CHAPTER 16-FISTS, KNIVES, SWORDS, AND AXCES

[LucianG]

Lucian

Commander Sheba checked her chrono. The Callisto had entered the jump for the Axcian system a couple of centars before, so she was taking a few centons to relax in her room. The preliminary reports showed that the Callisto had taken a little damage traveling through the asteroid belt, but overall, the Warriors and the gunners had done a great job clearing the path. She wanted to do something to recognize them for the extreme danger they’d braved. She’d already heard several comments from crew members that this mission had been easy considering that there were no Cylons around to blast the Warriors into bits; however, for those involved, they knew this wasn’t true. The poor Frodarian Warrior would have gladly attested to that…if he’d survived. As it was, he’d never even known what had hit him.

Sheba moved to her chair and sorted through the messages on her screen. What was this? One of the Lieutenant’s had sent a suggestion that the Squadrons hold a joint debriefing in the O-Club and a little celebration. Considering the current supply situation, they might not be able to have much of a variety of food and drink, but surely the Cooks could whip up something. She sent the note to Lieutenant Aegina for her to organize this event for all three squadrons for the next evening, AFTER the Warriors’ reports on the Pauvwell mission had been submitted. It would occur one centar before shift change and end one centar after shift change. Concluding, she sent Lieutenant Justin a "thank you" for the suggestion.

Wanting to be fair to others who put their lives on the line as well, she sent another message to one of the other officers. There would be a separate function for the entire crew, at various points around the ship, and on two successive shifts so everyone could participate when they were off-duty. As always, the Battlestar’s business came first.

Finally, she closed her eyes thinking that the quiet would do her some good. She might even be able to sleep for a few minutes—

BEEP—“Commander!” came the call.

“Yes, Lieutenant,” was Sheba’s tired response.

“Commander, there’s been an altercation between several Frodarian refugees and some of our crew members. Captain Urdea’s forces have broken it up, but there are several minor injuries reported. The injured are being rushed to the Med Lab.”

“Make sure Med Lab is aware of it. Do we know what it was about?" she asked.

"No, Commander. I'm contacting Captain Urdea to get a report."

"Good. I’ll be there in a centon.”

* * *

After hearing the initial report, Commander Sheba had gone to the site of the incident to see to the situation personally.

“The Frodarian civilians were upset that their food rations and living conditions were, quote, ‘So bad!’” said Lieutenant Proteus, the Fleet Security force’s Second-in-Command aboard the Callisto. “This ‘self-appointed’ leader, ‘magistrate’ Yvarran, led the—”

“Excuse me,” said Captain Jorlan, arriving just in time to hear the last part of Proteus’ report, “but he is not ‘self-appointed’ as you said. He was an important civil figure on our planet, who earned his position through many yahrens of service after a distinguished military career. He uses his title of Magistrate instead of his former military rank of Captain to show that he does protect our civilians’ interests.”

“Well, self-appointed or not, the guy basically started a riot, talking about how it would be better to go back to ‘Gastonovia’—I’m assuming he means Frodar Alpha—instead of starving here. When our security forces arrived to maintain order, a fistfight broke out. While I didn’t hear him urge those ladies to start a brawl, he sure didn’t do anything to stop it. Now, we’ve got three security Officers in the Med Lab, plus four Frodarian ‘ladies! ”

Commander Sheba swallowed, hard, hoping to stifle the laugh she felt coming. Succeeding, she said, “I want to see whatever we have on Magistrate Yvarran. Also, get me a report on the Frodarians’ conditions and rations. While I’m not going to bend over backward to make them comfortable, we want to at least make sure their situation is equitable. Captain, what are your plans for discipline?”

Captain Urdea responded, “We’ve been circulating security Officers by their areas pretty frequently, but I’m going to speak with Mr. Yvarran about this. If he’s some kind of leader, I propose that we put him to work to help control his people rather that making it look like we’re trying to keep them under our thumbs. Also, since this is a first offense, I would like to release the ‘ladies’ on their own recognizance with the understanding that if it happens again, they won’t be treated so leniently. Finally, we’re going to try to get the Security Officers to work directly with the people to try to let them get to know each other. Hopefully, if they can at least become acquaintances, if not friends, they’ll be less likely to get into scrapes with our folks. It’s kind of like 23 yahrens ago, when we were first starting out, all over again. Overall Commander, I believe this is better than just clamping down on them.”

“Captain Jorlan, do you have any thoughts?” Sheba asked.

“Commander, appropriate seem—excuse me—Captain Urdea’s thoughts seem appropriate,” said Jorlan. “I will speak with Magistrate Yvarran as well to impress on him the importance of making the best of this situation.”

* * *

A short time later, Lieutenant Aegina distributed the following message to all Colonial Warriors:

“There will be a general post-mortem on the recent missions in the Pauvwell system at 07:00 tomorrow evening in the O-Club. All Warriors are asked to attend. It will be followed by a reception for our Warriors, off-duty Core Command personnel, and our Medical Staff. Events will conclude at 09:00. Please join us for this general briefing, discussion, drinks, and fellowship.”

* * *

Another note on bulletin boards around the Battlestar showed that the billiards tournament would be postponed by one secton due to the need to complete repairs suffered in the Pauvwell system.

* * *

Sometime later, with the squelcher in place, the Noman’s top assistant reported that he had located an ideal candidate among the Frodarians for their group.

“Do what it takes to hook this person,” he said. “Carefully, but quickly.” He turned the squelcher off as the other man left. Just as he was about to exit the compartment, the Noman called, “Oh, and find out what you can about this ‘retooling.’ If they are trying to produce new replacement parts for those damaged Vipers…well, we can’t let that happen now can we?”

* * *

Brie

Brie had just finished a long talk with Major Joey on the bridge. She didn't like what she had heard. Seemed that Lt. Amy hadn't taken her job as acting leader of Gold Squadron all that seriously. Brie realized that assigning Amy had probably been a mistake, but she didn't regret it. Amy needed a push every now and then. The girl had to grow up sometime! [Sorry Amy!]

Although she already knew what was on it, Brie checked the main board for assignments and information. Nothing until 07:00 the next evening. In a way Brie hated downtime. Maybe she would look for Mara, find out if she needed any help with the wedding preparations. Were they still even planning on taking the seal?

Lost in thoughts of Mara and Skyler's future, Brie didn't hear the footsteps. She wasn't even aware of anyone else being there until a hand grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn around. It was Captain Jorlan. "Why?" he snapped angrily at her.

Brie knew that there had been some kind of a scuffle with the refugees, but she didn't know what it was about. She made it a point to stay out of their way. With rations being cut and shortages being reported, some of the refugees were starting to blame her for bringing them to the Callisto. The look on Jorlan's face, though, told her that something else was wrong. "Why what?" was all that she could say.

"In the asteroid field," Jorlan said with so much hostility that spit flew out of his mouth. "You could have just let me die. Why didn't you? If you think I'm going to owe you some sort of a life dept..."

"I'd rather die myself," Brie said. She had never had to explain saving someone's life before. "You were a warrior under my command. I saw you were in trouble, so I told you what to do. End of story. It was nothing personal. I would have done the same for anyone."

"Good," said Jorlan. "You took my friend's life, and I will NEVER forgive you for it."

"When we're flying together, we're working together, Captain. When we're back onboard, you can hate me as much as you want. But if you're going to bring personal feelings on a mission, I would suggest that you rethink your choice of careers." With that, Brie turned and walked down the hall. She knew that Jorlan was watching her, she could feel his eyes burning through the back of her head. She was glad to turn the corner, out of his sight.

* * *

Charybdis

Brie stalked off the bridge after her 'encounter' with Captain Jorlan. I had been near and heard the whole thing.

After Brie left, Jorlan was just standing there, probably fuming pretty good. It's amazing that I didn't see vapors coming out of his ears!

As he started to move toward the rear of the bridge, he came close to where I was standing. He stopped and nodded, "Colonel." He said.

I looked at him and nodded back, "Captain," acknowledging him. I never really got to know Jorlan since my time on the planet was so short, but he didn't impress me much. And the fact that he hated Brie didn't put him on my friendly list either.

He leaned over and looked at the corridor where Brie had just left. "The women on Gastonovia knew their place..." he mentioned with spite in his voice, obviously referencing Brie's spunky attitude.

I looked away and couldn't help but chuckle. I replied with the only thing I could have, "The women on the Callisto do too."

Jorlan raised his eyebrows as he caught my jovial scorn. He sure wasn't going to get anywhere with me, so derisively, he turned and walked off the bridge quickly.

I shook my head after he left. "Fool," I muttered.

* * *

I was getting ready to go back on duty after I had stopped by the mess hall to get something to drink. Not much left of a choice. But it will have to do.

As I ventured forth into the corridor, I spotted Amy walking up ahead, she seemed to be headed in Maj. Brie's quarters direction. She was still bunking with her.

"Amy" I called out. She immediately turned around and cautiously said 'hi.' She still seemed...bothered by something. Now, it was as if she almost didn't want to be around me, where as before, I remembered the wonderful time when I had proposed to her and we were rolling around on the floor. I couldn't forget a thing like that. I had loved her youthful exuberance, but I hadn't seen anything like that lately.

"Amy, you did a great job out there. I'm glad you're home safe and sound." I caught myself talking like an overprotective father, although I had no children and had never been sealed before.

Amy nodded, realizing within that she had messed up and could have cost some Warriors their lives if things had gone wrong.

"We need to talk, Amy. I know you're confused about everything we discussed. Our sealing..." I intently watched her face as I said this. She didn't show any emotion, for the most part. Just looked away...

"I miss you." I said.

With that, she lifted her eyes and looked into mine. She swallowed hard and leaned close for a gentle peck on the lips. "I miss you too." she said.

She quickly looked down again and abruptly said, "I have to go. I'm needed elsewhere. I promise, we'll talk soon." She gave my hand a squeeze and then took off down the corridor around the corner.

I let my head fall back on my shoulders and I questioned the Lords why they had done this to me!! I let out a big sigh and I began my trek to the bridge.

Time for more work...

[LucianG]

Najinn

Najinn lay in his bunk in medbay. He was icthing to get back on duty, he had spent nearly two full months in medbay since his injury and he felt better than ever. The med bay team had lloked after him, he had so much appreciation for them they had nursed him back from the edge after Amy had saved his soul. He was back on form at least physically. Mentally he was stressed and worried. Emotionally he was hurting bad.

He didn't show it, but seeing Amy had really hurt him again. He was so in love with Amy, so over his head in love with her. But he couldn't know what she was thinking, he had heard on the grapevine that her sealing to Charybdis had been called off. Well, that was the rumour, but no one knew for sure, rumours were so unreliable he knew he shouldn't take any notice really, but he so wished that if Amy was betrothed to Charybdis that she told him herself. He wanted to hear it from her, but he also didn't want to hear it at all. What he wanted to hear was that she loved him and that she wanted to be with him. Emotionally, he felt like a rooky pilot in his first zero g training run, all over the shop.

He lay back, drifting away, thinking of who else. Amy.....

* * *

Lucian

It was well into Second Shift, and most of the First Shift crewmembers were sound asleep in their barracks. Second Shift was often a quieter time, especially with fewer civilians moving around the ship. Still, the two men had searched for a private location to talk. Now, they had been talking quietly for some time. They were walking the landing deck in Beta Bay since they were less likely to be overheard there. Their discussion had turned to a heated argument in recent centons.

“Your job, Magistrate, is to protect our peoples’ interests, not to lead them down some path from which there is no return.”

“Captain, first, you don’t have to tell me my job. I’ve been doing it since you were a young daggit, and I know it well. Second, I am not the one leading our people down that path of which you speak. Between the damned Colonials, your father, and yourself, we’ve already been taken down that deadly little path. Now, we are on a rocky little ledge that gets narrower and more slippery as we go, and the pebbles reigning down upon us seem to be getting bigger by the centon!” he whispered excitedly.

“You better not bring my father into this, you lousy bastard. He did what he had to do to save some remnant of our people and our heritage,” retorted Jorlan.

Before Jorlan could continue, Yvarran started again, “Yes, sending us here so that we could die in this forsaken place due to starvation, or worse yet, the enmity of our ‘saviors!’ They do not care for us, and their leaders are jokes. Several of their top leaders are even female! Whoever heard of such a thing! And your Major friend is a murderer of one of our people, but she was never even disciplined for her crime. How can we trust them? They have done nothing to show that they deserve our trust!”

Jorlan was red faced with anger. “Magistrate, you are dead wrong! Their leaders may be female, but they are Warriors. Do not ever forget that. We can dislike or even hate them, but we must respect their abilities. They have proven themselves to be capable. Yes, they brought destruction on our world, but not intentionally. They were chased themselves and came to our world, not knowing that we were even there. Yes, I will never forgive Major Brie for what she did to my friend, but I understand why she will never be punished for it. Under the circumstances, if I were in her Commander’s place, my decision would be the same.”

“You admit that you are a weakling?” asked Yvarran.

“No, but I admit that I am a realist. Our circumstances will change someday, but not now,” said Jorlan.

“Ah! A change in circumstances! We may have a way of doing something about our circumstances. I met someone who may be able to help us. With his group’s help, we can change the order on this Battlestar, and make our plight better.”

“Yvarran, I do not like the sound of what you propose. Do not do attempt anything that will damage the ability of this ship or its crew to defend itself or our people. Such actions could damage our people beyond belief.”

“You do nothing, and you warn me to do nothing! My cousin Tolar would be very ‘proud,’ I’m sure,” he said sarcastically. “I will do what I must to protect our people. I will do what I think best to promote their best interests.”

“Be careful on this course you take,” said Jorlan. His voice growing louder, he said, “If you go too far, I will do whatever I must to stop you!”

A crewman who had just approached without their knowledge suddenly surprised the two men when he asked, “Stop him from doing what, Captain? This is a restricted area. Do I need to call for help?”

“No, crewman. The Magistrate is here with my permission,” said Captain Jorlan. “This is a personal issue only, and is none of your concern. We are leaving NOW, aren’t we Magistrate?”

* * *

Brie

Still brooding over her conversation with Captain Jorlan, Brie went to the Weight Room to work out for a while. She could overhear two men that she thought worked in the Mess Hall, talking about some woman that they both knew. What they were saying wasn't flattering, and eventually Brie just left.

Heading back to her quarters, Brie continued to think about Jorlan's accusation. He thought that she had saved him so that he would be in her debt! She hadn't even really saved him, she had just noticed something on her scanner that hadn't appeared on his. That was all. She had been doing her job, just like she had been doing her job back on that fracking planet where she had first met Jorlan.

Reaching the door to her quarters, Brie noticed someone standing nearby. It was one of the refugees, barely old enough to be called a man. He was tall, strong, and disheveled-looking. Brie was hoping that he was just lost, but she doubted it. "May I help you?" she asked in as pleasant a tone as possible.

"You Brie?" he asked. She nodded. The man walked to her and she backed up, right into the wall. The man took one step closer and put his large hands against the wall, not far above her head. Although he wasn't touching Brie, she knew better than to try to get away. "Why you bring us here?"

Maintaining eye contact, Brie sized up the situation. If she played it right, she could catch him off guard and get away. Playing dumb probably wasn't a good idea. She decided instead to play on his patriotism, hoping that this man had some loyalty. "Commander Tolar asked me to lead his people here, to safety."

"Safety?" the man almost shouted. "We starve. Commander Tolar not want this."

"It's safer here than back on Gastonovia," she said, using the name that they had given their planet. "Commander Tolar trusted me because he couldn't protect everyone from the Cylons that were coming."

"Cylons YOU brought," the man insisted.

"Cylons will always bring more Cylons," Brie said, trying to remain calm. She figured that the best way she was going to get out of this would be a well placed kick in his shins, but so far the man hadn't threatened her. "They knew you were there. You can't trust Cylons, they're programmed to kill humans and they'll do whatever they have to to do it. They would have come, and most of your people would have been killed. At least now those who have stayed behind will have a chance. And you will too. When we rejoin the fleet..."

"Fleet?" interrupted the man. "There is no fleet. Lying you are."

"No," Brie insisted, wondering if her time was running out. "We'll find the fleet. Then there will be plenty of supplies and..."

"Is there a problem here?" Once again, Brie was interrupted, but it wasn't by the refugee. The man dropped his hands and took a step back. Brie was surprised to see Captain Lazant.

"No," Brie said quickly, "there's no problem. I was just explaining to this gentleman here about how we'll be joining the fleet again soon. Isn't that correct?" The man, looking nervously at Lazant, nodded. It was obvious that the man had more respect for a male officer than for Brie. "That's all," Brie added. The man quickly disappeared down the hall.

* * *

Brie

"Are you alright?"

Brie punched in her code and the door to her quarters opened. She entered, and motioned for Captain Lazant to follow her. Glancing around quickly, she noticed that Amy wasn't there. "I'm fine," she said. "He didn't even threaten me. Thank you for saving me."

Lazant smiled. "You didn't need saving, you could have taken him in a micron. But I'm glad that it didn't come to that. What was the problem?"

"Some of the refugees are getting frustrated," Brie told him. "I was the one who was in charge of the mission who brought them here, so a few are blaming me. It's kind of like the exodus from the colonies all over again, only on a much smaller level."

"I guess we should have expected that. I haven't had the chance to congratulate you on your promotion," he said, changing the subject. "It's well deserved."

"Thank you," Brie said. "Yours will come," she added after a slightly uncomfortable pause.

"We'll see." Noticing that there seemed to be something else on her mind, Lazant changed the subject once again. "What else is wrong? Do you need to talk?"

Brie was a bit surprised by Lazant's suggestion. She didn't really know him all that well, and she didn't trust him, but he never seemed to have a problem with her. "Why are men such daggits?"

"Don't judge all of us by the actions of one," Lazant said, smiling again.

"How about four in the last couple of centars?" Brie asked. She sat down, Lazant did the same. Without thinking she started to tell him what had happened with Captain Jorlan, and the reasons that he hated her so much. She didn't tell him anything that he didn't already know, the details of the mission had been filed and weren't classified. Talking to Lazant was actually easy, maybe it was because she was tired of having everything bottled up inside of her.

When Brie finally stopped the silence didn't last long. "Some men just won't respect women in authority. It's a shame, Brie, because you're a fine leader."

"Thank you," she said. "And thanks for listening. I don't know why I decided to burden you with all of that."

Lazant patted Brie on the hand. "That's what friends are for."

Not realizing that she and Lazant were what would be called "friends," it was Brie's turn to change the subject. "I wonder where Amy is."

"Probably with Charybdis," Lazant suggested, going into his fact-finding mode. "Or would that be Najin?"

"I don't know these days," Brie replied, answering truthfully but not wanting to give up any of her friend's secrets. "Charybdis is a good friend, but Najin was shot to save my life, so I'm staying out of it."

"Probably a good idea," Lazant added. He stood up. "I should be going." Brie stood as well, walked to the door and opened it. Lazant stepped out into the hall. He turned back towards Brie. "I was wondering, do you fence?"

The question seemed to have come out of the blue. "Not very well," Brie admitted.

"Maybe I could give you a lesson or two," he suggested. "Something to do during downtime."

"Okay," Brie said. "And thanks again."

"Don't mention it." Lazant walked down the hall. Brie closed the door, wondering what had just happened. She wanted badly to hate Lazant, especially after what he had done to Charybdis, but she couldn't.

[LucianG]

Lucian

Raw, unbridled ambition.

“Major. Major. Major!” he chanted softly aloud to an audience of only himself.

A bead of sweat dripped from his nose as he cut, cut, parried, and thrust. He preferred the medium-weight longsword of his homeworld, Taura, but the heavy broadsword was better for a workout when a fencing partner was unavailable. Since he was skilled with numerous edged weapons and in the sword-fighting formalities of six worlds, he took advantage of the silence in the training room to give himself a real workout.

As he went through the exercise, he put thoughts of his rank out of his mind for a moment, and thought about the Frodarian in the corridor. Brie could have dealt with him easily, but it was a shame that of all the people on board the Callisto with whom they could have had a problem, it had to be her. She was one of the three people on board the ship that were most deserving of their position, with Commander Sheba and himself being the other two. She knew what it took to lead and command, and did an excellent job with her duties, unlike the other squadron’s leader, the galaxy’s luckiest freighter jock turned Viper pilot. Lazant growled to himself at the thought, and again felt the frustration of being prevented from doing his best to help his people, his fleet, and mankind in general. If only Commander Sheba would recognize his ability, he’d receive that promotion so he could serve as a deterrent against any of Lucian’s crazier actions, when the time was right.

Finishing in a flurry, he put “Major” Lucian out of his mind as he pitched the broadsword, and with his toe flicked his favorite longsword into the air, catching it in his left hand. He slammed his right foot down on the tip of the matching dagger’s handle, sending it flipping into the air, where he scooped it, low, with his right hand. With a quick twist, even as he started to work the sword in his left hand, he repositioned the dagger in his right hand. Within a moment, both weapons were a blur as his body became a lethal weapon, changing strategies and styles seemingly in midstroke, showing why he had been the fleet fencing champion for four of the last six yahrens.

A few centons later, as he cleaned his weapons and put them back in his bag, his thoughts returned to Major Brie. Surprisingly, she had become one of his few friends aboard the Callisto. Since the death of Lieutenant Martinzi in the battle of Shonada, he’d had few friends, especially since few people understood why he’d accused and then prosecuted the Lieutenant Colonel. He’d let his personal ambition, and his deep-rooted dislike of Charybdis, blind him in that case, and he was still paying the price of it. Many of the Warriors still refused to speak with him other than in the necessity of military requirements, but Brie seemed to have moved on beyond that despite her friendship with Charybdis. Since it was so difficult for him to make friends with fellow Warriors, he thought, he’d do his best not to harm their relationship. He was going to apply for a promotion again soon

He put the last weapon in the bag, lifted it to his shoulder, and started toward his quarters. Hearing a scuffle around a bend in the corridor, he ran forward and was surprised to see two men running away from a third who was slumped against the corridor wall. Lazant put down his bag to help the man. From the insignia, Lazant saw that he was one of the Frodarian Warriors, who’d obviously taken more than he’d given in fight. “Here, let me help you,” said Lazant. “Let’s get to the Med Lab. We may have to roust Nurse Holodoc, but she’ll fix you right up.”

The Frodarian was obviously in pain, but he still looked angry. He said, “The Lead-pants are you. Why help me?”

Lazant winced slightly at the unflattering nickname, but then smiled and said, “Because you need it, and because I do what is best for the good of this ship.” Unsaid, he thought, “Even when it is against my desires and better judgment.” Continuing aloud, he said, “Let’s go so I can get you there and still get a little bit of sleep.” Supporting the other man due to a knee injury, Lazant helped him toward the Med Lab. Much of his weight was on Lazant, so he eventually put down his bag, placing it in a corner. He’d come back and get it later. Together, they continued to the Med Lab.

* * *

Lucian

Perplexity and puzzlement.

Captain Urdea couldn’t sleep. He was looking over the items on the screen. Winnie and Hawke had uncovered more information than they knew or understood in their search, but Urdea was still left with no real proof of the person or persons behind the group’s actions. Sheba was pressuring him to bring the investigation to completion. She wanted results…last secton or before. So far, he felt he could give her a couple of underlings, but he knew that neither was likely to be the leader, and if he did that leader would retreat even further into his or her dark recess and might never be found. Now, the question gnawing at his mind was how to flush the person out into the open.

He decided to take a walk, so he secured his laser pistol, and began a circuit through the ship. Since it was midway through Second Shift, there were few crewmen out in the corridors, but he gave a friendly nod and hello to those he passed. Seeing the head of Security making rounds was sometimes unsettling to some, unless he put them at ease.

His thoughts turned to the females involved as he walked. Major Brie could take care of herself, as long as someone didn’t get too much of a jump on her, or use some type of long-range weapon against her. He knew the threat was there, but, since she refused protection, he hoped the threat was an idle one.

Holodoc had been a big help in the investigation, but due to the need for secrecy, so far he’d been unable to acknowledge it other than a “thank you.” He’s see that she was given a special accommodation when all was said and done, but until then, for her own safety, no one could know of her involvement.

Then there was Lieutenant Amy. His heart ached each time he thought of her, and almost broke each time he was forced to come into contact with her. In his youth, he’d made so many mistakes, and as penance, he was forced to think of what might have been each time Amy was involved. Now, it was far too late to change the past. He was sentenced to his current state of loneliness and solitude, but as long as it was in his power and didn’t conflict with his first duty to the Callisto, he wouldn’t make things worse by letting anything happen to her.

“Abby, why oh why?” he asked himself as he turned the corner. Ahead, he saw a large rectangular black bag sitting in the corner at the next bend. As he headed that way, he tried to push those old thoughts from his mind. Maybe, just maybe, Holodoc could help again. If only they could find a way of bringing back Amy’s memory of the attacks on her, they might be able to find those final pieces of the puzzle. ‘Doc was just the person to do it.

The bag had Captain Lazant’s name on it, but Urdea was still concerned about sabotage so he carefully scanned it, and finding no traces of explosives or electronics, he opened it a little to peer inside. Using a small penlight from his belt, he could see the glint of one of Lazant’s weapons in the bag, so he opened it the rest of the way, then did a quick search, finding nothing that would harm the Callisto. He closed the bag and shook his head slowly. Urdea questioned why the Captain would have abandoned his bag there, but, upon feeling its weight, and finding no threat, he decided to leave it for Lazant to carry.

* * *

Lucian

Intense frustration.

Captain Jorlan couldn’t sleep either, so he went for a run through the corridors of the Callisto. He wore a small backpack filled with weights, and wore weight straps attached to his wrists and ankles.

On Gastonovia, he had been one of the more progressive members of his society when it came to females. In the last few generations, females had moved beyond the roles of mother and breeding stock that they’d been forced to take when the Gastonov had been forced to land on the planet. Without outside contact with other humans, and with only a very limited number of females on the ship, the breeding program had been rigidly enforced for over 70 yahrens as the population eventually grew to a sustainable level. Many women had spent their entire lives with one or more men with whom they had been forbidden to have children, all the while regularly giving birth to and raising more children according to the plan. When the plan reached its target number, it was abolished, but its effects continued to be felt. Females were restricted from holding what had become male dominated jobs, and only the work of a number of more visionary and dedicated men and women had finally stopped this. Jorlan was all for women being able to hold whatever position they liked; however, he had found in the final cycles on Gastonovia and aboard the Callisto that he drew the line where the females were in charge of him. His “progression” had suddenly been put on hold, and as far as it appeared to at least one woman, a full-fledged regression seemed to have occurred.

She was quite simply the most infuriating woman he’d ever met. Colonel-Captain-Major—who knows, maybe next sectar—Empress of the Galaxy?—Brie. She was self-assured and demanding, yet seemingly, only demanding to the point she was sure that she could do the task herself. He suspected that he’d find that quite appealing in anyone except her. She, he remembered, was the person who’d killed his friend on the planet. She, he thought, was the person who had embarrassed him in saving him from—well, basically himself. SHE—

“She is a female Warrior, accepted by our hosts, so I must not think of her,” he stated to himself. “She will succeed or fail on her own without my input, but I will never feel myself to be in her debt, nor will I ever force myself to forgive her for her crime.

Jorlan ran past a crew working on an air distribution system. Despite the centar, he recognized a couple of the women and one of the men as being Frodarians, so he stopped to say hello, dropping the heavy backpack from his shoulders as one of the women asked, “Jorlan-ey, go you to the demonstration after Shift? Much good it will do says Magistrate Yvarran. Forced will the Colonials be to give us better food and quarters.”

“Magya-eya,” he said, matching the respect she had given him, “Yvarran has arranged this as an affront to our hosts?” questioned Jorlan. “Stop him I—I must stop him before he damages our people’s cause with the Colonials. While they haven’t been treating our people great, according to the research I’ve done, it is much better than they experienced themselves when they were forced from their planets and into space about 23.5 yahrens ago. I will speak to him before he causes us further embarrassment and hurts our people.”

Jorlan slung the pack across his back and took off down the corridor at a good clip. Sometime later, he rounded a corner and saw a large black bag. Wondering why it was there, he stopped, set his backpack on the deck, and opened the bag. He rummaged through it briefly, and then withdrew the dagger he found inside. It was a very nice, well-balanced fighting weapon.

A few moments later, the bag was closed once more. Jorlan hefted the backpack again, and went in search of Yvarran. He’d do whatever needed to be done to protect his people, even from fools like Yvarran.

* * *

Lazant was on his way back to his quarters, finally. He'd awaken Doc BKJ due to the severity of the man's knee injury. When he'd finally left the Med Lab, they were well into the operation. He didn't know why he'd stayed, but he felt sort of responsible for the young man, even though he knew he had no ties whatsoever other than human kindness.

He smiled to himself, thinking that it was unlikely that either Brie or the Frodarian would ever tell anyone about their experiences. Good! He didn't want it out around the ship that he was anything other than a hard case. The recruits might get the wrong idea and not work hard enough in their training. It could be a disaster! That's what you sometimes get when just trying to be helpful.

He headed a little out of his way in order to retrieve his bag. It was right where he'd left it, so he swung the strap over his shoulder and returned to his quarters. He'd get a shower and some breakfast before his first class of the cycle. He might even take a little while to work on those promotion papers. If only he could send them through Commander Sheba instead of Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis! He might have a chance of becoming a Major that way.

Someday Charybdis. Someday Lucian. You'll see.

* * *

MedievalSong

Lt Kris got up from her nap she took from her mission. *************
I yawned and stretched. Galen opened an eye and glared at me. Then he made a growl in his throat. I patted his head.
"Mr Grumpy in the early cycle. ::giggles:: Don't worry Galen you can sleep in but your meowmy needs to go out. I slept too long and now I am talking to my cat." I looked around to see if anyone else saw me. I got ready and headed out. I went to see if Nat was in his training room. Nope. No one was there. I buzzed his room. Some frodian answered the door rubbing his eyes.
"huh?"
"Is Lt Resonat in?"
"No"
"Do you know where he went?"
"No"
"Thanks go back to sleep."
"Ok" was all I got. I tried not to giggle. I walked thru the halls and made my way to the messhall. I grabbed my sandwhich and an apple and headed to the observation deck when I saw two little faces looking at me in desperation. They licked their lips as they looked at my sandwhich. I looked at it then at them. My heart fell and I knew I still had old rations of crackers and I knew I could get another meal later. Then my mind flashed. I saw myself in them, when I was on the orphan ship. I remembered the pangs of hunger and just hoping for something to eat. A tear fell as I tore the sandwhich in half and gave a half to each of them. They tore into them in desperation and smiled at me then took off running. I pulled the apple out of the pocket in my jacket and looked at in hunger.
"Eh it will do till dinner." I shrugged and headed to the observation deck. I sat there and watched the colors swirling around. The coldness of the metal against my skin reminded me of the night. I had to close my eyes for the colors were making me dizzy. I headed back to the training room and saw the faces again. This time they were smiling at me with their mom. She smiled a small smile at me. I just nodded and smiled back. The little girl ran over and hugged me. It took all the resolve with in not to cry. As soon as they were there they were gone. I stood there in the hall alone but in a sense not really. After I came to my senses, I went back in the training room. I set the program to use the blackness of the room and set up my old sky up on it, to make it seem like I was home looking up at the sky at night. I closed my eyes and could almost imagine the wind blowing thru my hair. I just sat in one of the mock vipers and left the canopy open and just stared.

[LucianG]

Lucian

Darkness...pierced only slightly by the light from the corridor as the door to the SIM Control Room slid open. Seeing that all was not as he expected, he quickly stepped into the room and sidestepped as the door automatically shut. In the dim glow of the panel lights, he saw that no one was in the room; however, peering through the window of the control room into the training room, he was surprised to see the twinkle of stars cast overhead. He smiled on seeing it, knowing that the twinkle was artifically created by the program, allowing the viewer to see it as if it were viewed through an atmosphere. Someone must be thinking of home. He tried to do that himself sometime, but all he could remember from his early childhood was the pain of being alone. If this type of "therapy" helped this person deal with his or her inner issues, who was he to interfere?

Keeping the lights in the Control Room, he began preparing for the cycle's training sessions, allowing the unknown and as yet unseen viewer a few centons of solace and, perhaps, happy memories. When all was ready, he looked at his chrono. The cycle's first batch of cadets would be arriving shortly, so it was time to roust this dreamer and send him or her on his or her way. He entered the room and approached the Viper sims. Peering into the fifth one, he saw a shape, so he tapped gently on the canopy. A few moments later, the canopy opened, and two sets of eyes grew wide in the darkness as they each realized who the other was.

His heart suddenly racing, a suddenly breathless Nat exclaimed, "Kris!" He felt unsteady, so he threw out a hand in an attempt to brace himself as he extended his other hand to help her out of the cockpit....

* * *

MedievalSong

I climbed out and looked at Nat before me. Once out I just hugged him. He held me close. To be honest it felt good to have him hold me.
"What were you doing in there?" I looked down to where the apple core landed. Those faces were in my mind. We went and sat down in the control room while he got the rest of the things set up for the cadets coming in.
"Well I started out looking for you. Which by the way I didn't know you had a roommate now. I think I woke him up. Then I went to the mess hall and ended up giving my lunch away. ::looking at the apple:: Except for the apple. So then just seeing those kids, Nat, it made me remember being on the orphan ship. Then I missed home. So I came here since no one was in here and set up the program and then I was missing you and then next thing I know I see you! I hope I am not in trouble for coming in here and using the star program. Anyways, where were you earlier? And will I get to see you later?" ....

* * *

Lucian

Word had spread through the ranks of the Frodarians during Second Shift. The demonstration would start promptly at 16:95:00, five centons prior to shift change and the beginning of a new cycle. The assembled group would begin a march around the Callisto right at the time they were most likely to encounter the largest number of people during the early part of the cycle. Last evening when he’d started the process, Magistrate Yvarran had stressed to the messengers that their people’s strength lay in numbers, so the larger the group, the more effective it would be.

The appointed time came…and passed. Magistrate Yvarran did not appear, so a couple of Frodarians were dispatched to his quarters. When they failed to find him there, a larger group spread out to search other areas where he might be found.

The crowd was beginning to be impatient, so Captain Jorlan, arriving slightly late himself, stepped to the front. Raising his hands and calling for quiet, he said, “My fellow Gastonovians,” using their own term for the people from Frodar Epsilon, “it appears that Magistrate Yvarran has been detained. While we wait, I ask you to consider these facts about our current situation. First, the Colonials offered us assistance and Commander Tolar felt that it was wise to accept it.”

“Yeah! No one is perfect that just proves!” shouted someone. “Know them like us he did not!” called another.

Jorlan raised his hands again, and when the crowd quieted, he continued, “We turn our noses at the food and accommodations here, but that is only because we are used to so much more and so much better.”

“Right you are, but your point?” called someone. “Better off we were!”

The first heckler jumped back in, “Why defend you the Colonials, Jorlan? Why change your talk to match the Colonials? Our planet and people do you put from your mind?”

“No! The Colonials I do not defend; however, we must realize that we are with them now, and we must do our best to be accepted by them. We are allies and brothers in this fight together. Trying to readopt their speech is one way of being accepted.”

“Fight we together only because the Cylons they brought to us!” retorted the second heckler. “And who wishes acceptance?”

“NOT I,” shouted several Frodarians.

“Yes, they led a group to us, but others would have come eventually. Think you…do you think they wouldn’t?”

A firestorm of voices erupted. For over twenty centons, there were numerous debates occurring simultaneously. The Frodarian Warriors and a few of the civilians in the crowd generally supported Jorlan’s view, but most of the civilians and those who had joined the Callisto’s crew were equally adamant about the poor treatment they were receiving at the hands of the Colonials. There were a number of Fleet Security Officers that arrived, ready to maintain order if things got out of hand. Sergeant Winnie arrived with Officer Hawke just in time to hear Jorlan making another argument to the crowd.

“Also, think about our brothers and sisters who remained behind on Gastonovia. Do you think they have it so good now? We think the Cylons wrecked our beautiful world, and our people live in the tunnels. We have all heard rumors about the Omega Plan since we were young. Consider this, the Omega Plan is now active! That means we are pushed to the limit, and our very existence is threatened. Our brothers and sisters probably cannot venture out to the planet because our enemies will have laid it waste!”

“One enemy perhaps,” said Magistrate Yvarran as he arrived in the back of the room. Hawke and Winnie turned to see him, then stepped out of the way as he moved forward. “Still, we ask the Colonials to treat us as equals and friends here aboard this ship, not as second-class citizens or enemies! We have rights!” he said as his volume grew. “We must CLAIM THEM! WHO IS WITH ME? LET’S MARCH!!”

Over the shouting, Winnie mouthed to Hawke, “Be careful. This could get ugly!”

Yvarran and most of the Frodarians started to march down the corridor, shouting as they went.

* * *

Hearing of the disturbance, and fearing that it could easily get out of control, Major Lucian put out a call for twelve Black Squadron Warriors to guard the hangar area of Beta Bay, for another twelve to get to Ship’s Stores, for six to head to the Bridge, and for six to stand guard at the Black Squadron Barracks. All others were to stand by on alert, ready to be dispatched wherever needed at a moment’s notice.

“…I repeat: No weapons are to be drawn unless you feel as if you in serious danger of grievous bodily harm. We do NOT want to make this situation worse. Report your position as soon as possible. Major Lucian—Out.”

“Well,” he said aloud to only himself, “it looks like Jarrynn and my new lens prescription are going to have to wait a little while this morning.” Almost immediately, Warriors who were on the move started calling in their positions. Lieutenant BatGal burst into the office only a moment later and started entering the data and feeding updates even as Lucian dispatched individual Warriors.

* * *

MedievalSong

“…I repeat: No weapons are to be drawn unless you feel as if you in serious danger of grievous bodily harm. We do NOT want to make this situation worse. Report your position as soon as possible. Major Lucian—Out.”
****************************
I looked at Nat and sighed as I leaned against him. He held me for a moment till I backed away and pointed to my comm link. He nodded at me. He understood.
"Major Lucian, I am close to the hanger. I will be there shortly sir. Lt Kris out."
I sighed against Nat again. I stretched up on my tiptoes and kissed him.
"Nat I am so sorry. It seems we never get the chance to spend time together much. Well I can hear your cadets now and I need to go make sure the riot doesn't get ugly. Nat... I ..." He looked so sad.
"I know. Its your job. You better get going! I will see you afterwards. Just be careful." I smiled and headed out. I got to the hanger and saw Lt Anubis come running in behind me. We looked at each other as we waited to see who else is coming.
"Well Lieutenant it looks like we are on another mission."
Anubis muttered.
"Yeah I know. This one has me worried though. I don't want to shoot anyone if I don't have to."
"Then keep a level head. They will try to taunt and provoke us. Like the Major said, only if you are in greivous bodily harm will you shoot. This is part of our job."
"It almost reminds me of when we took to space after the attack on the colonies. Do you think they will come this way?"
"I am not sure Lt Kris." then he sighed.
"Anubis? Was that just a sigh I heard from you?" I almost wanted to bust up laughing. Coming from him it was almost a miracle.
"What was the sigh for?"
"I was hoping for a quiet jump this time. And they ruined it." I giggled a little. It was just different to see him not so perfect like he was in the vipers so much. It was a change and it was good to see him loosening up. Holodoc must be a good influence on him.
There we waited for the riot or further orders. Deep inside, I was terrified.

* * *

BSGNylah

Lt Nylah got the call and immediatly started running to the store rooms. While running she called in her position.
"Lt Nylah here. I am in route to the stores."
She bumped into someone on her way and she looked back and yelled "Sorry!" but kept going.

There she waited for whatever would happen next.

* * *

JustinB

Lt JustinB was still out walking, thinking about his talk with Jarrynn. JustinB was suddenly brought back to reallity, when he heard the order for Black Squadron Warriors to make their way to key areas of the of the Callisto due to a Frodarian demonstration.

He decided that he would make his way to the Bridge. After nearly knocking over a few people, he made it to the Bridge. All seemed calm except for a few nervous bridge officers. JustinB took up position, "This is Lt JustinB, I have taken up position at the Bridge." He wondered who else would join him.

* * *

Brie

"Major Brie, this is Commander Sheba," came a call from the bridge.

"Yes, Ma'am, go ahead," Brie replied.

She explained to Brie over the comm the trouble that was brewing. "Major Lucian has sent out a call for Black Squadron, you might want to do the same for Gold, but be careful. There are some hostile feelings towards you for bringing them back here. Some faces may do more harm than good."

"I understand, Ma'am," Brie said. "I'm on it."

Brie sent out a message to Gold Squadron to stay alert, let Black Squadron handle it unless they ran into trouble. She also sent messages to Skyler, Amy and even Najin to stay away, no matter what. They had all been on the ground and might be recognized. She decided to send a similar message to Mara, since hers was the first Colonial face the Fodarians had seen upon landing. As hard as it might be, Brie knew that they all had to stay put.

* * *

Raycer

Upon hearing the call, Lt.Raycer rushed to the hanger to join some of his teammates. "Raycer here" he said into his comm unit. "Awating further orders, Major."

[LucianG]

Lucian

Major Lucian had used a command override to tap into the Fleet Security channel to get the latest news. He heard a relatively calm Sergeant Whitcher dispatching for Captain Urdea, who, unknown to Lucian, was just getting dressed due to sleeping a few centons late after his Second Shift activities. It sounded as if the bulk of the demonstration was moving toward the bridge, but there were separate reports that a large number of demonstrators were moving toward Ship Stores, toward the Main Armory, toward Alpha Bay, toward Beta Bay…based on the reports, Lucian wasn’t sure. It sounded as if the vast majority of the demonstrators were women, though. This wasn’t surprising, since of the 370 some odd Frodarian refugees, there were only about 50 or 60 men, and just over half of them were Frodarian Warriors. Growing more concerned, he sent out another call to Black Squadron.

“Lieutenant Kris, you’re in charge in the Beta Bay hangar. If anyone arrives to cause trouble, talk them down. We can’t have anyone getting close to our Vipers. Lieutenant Anubis, move to the Main Armory. I’ll send some Warriors to assist. Lieutenant Nylah, keep the Stores locked down. There are some Fleet Security Officers on the way according to their network. There will be some of our Squadron mates there in a couple of centons.”

There was a chorus of affirmatives, then Lieutenant JustinB broke in saying, “Major, there are three of us here, plus three Fleet Security guys…and we’ve got an army of Frodarian women walking dow………..”

The noise from the crowd drowned out JustinB’s voice. Lucian called out, “Lieutenant, talk to them, try to calm them, but most of all, slow them down. More help should be arriving soon.”

He immediately called the bridge to make sure they were aware of what was happening just outside their location.

A few moments later, Nylah called again. “Major, we’ve got about fifteen or twenty women, a couple of men, and a bunch of children here. They’re threatening to break in to take what they need. I still don’t have any backup, Sir!”

“Remain calm. Talk to them, Lieutenant. Stall them. Help is on the way.”

He immediately made another call to try to get more help for both groups.

* * *

Charybdis

I turned to Commander Sheba and asked if we should put the entire battlestar on alert for military as well as Fleet Security.

She agreed to a medium alert status so as not to enfuriate the Frodarians even more, but, safety was the first concern.

"All Fleet Security and Warriors are to be on Code Blue Alert status. Repeat: Code Blue status. All personnel report in to supervisors and report for duty."

Everything went crazy aboard the ship, but in a smooth orderly type of way.

* * *

Brie

"All Fleet Security and Warriors are to be on Code Blue Alert status. Repeat: Code Blue status. All personnel report in to supervisors and report for duty."

Major Brie heard the call, she immediately contacted Commander Sheba. "Commander..." she started.

"Head to the Gold Squadron briefing room, Major," Sheba said suddenly. "And you're to stay there. That can be your base of operations. Cain can handle the footwork. I don't want you to be seen, Brie. There are a lot of hostile feelings at the moment, and I don't want anything to aggravate the situation."

"Understood, Ma'am," Brie said. "Major Brie out." Checking to make sure no one was in the hall, Brie headed quietly to the Gold Squadron briefing room. She hated what was happening.

* * *

JustinB

With the Frodarians making their way closer to the bridge, decisions had to be made. Lt JustinB, had to hold off the group with two Black Squadron Warriors and three Fleet Security officers.

"No-one is to gain entry to the bridge. But do not draw your weapon, unless you have to protect yourself or if I say to," JustinB said to the Warriors and the Secutity Officers, "I am going to use what diplomacy skills I got and delay them, for as long as I can until backup arrives."

He advanced to meet the demonstration. As he aproached the group stopped moving forward. JustinB scanned the group. He saw at least fifteen Frodarian Warriors. "I cannot permit you to pass, return to your living areas at once," he shouted due to the loud chanting.

"Out of our way, Lieutenant, or move you ourselves we will" said the man leading the group.

"Now JustinB?" came the question from behind. "Negative, but be ready," replied JustinB. He had at least for the moment slowed their advance. Hopefully his backup would arrive soon. Hopefully he could talk them down. But he would risk injury or death to protect the Bridge.

* * *

Lucian

As the group moved toward JustinB's position, some of the Frodarian Warriors who had been working their way toward the front of the group turned around, blocking the corridor, preventing the remainder of the crowd from advancing. There were still several people front of this line, however, including Yvarran who was leading the pack. One of his fellow demonstrators pulled on his sleeve and pointed. He turned just in time to see Captain Jorlan advancing on him with four other Frodarian Warriors. Yvarran looked like a wounded animal, betrayed by one of his own. The older man roared over the noise of the throng, "Jorlan, you bastard! You side with these Colonials rather than your own people? Traitor!"

"No, Yvarran, I side with humanity! Your actions betray not only our own people but our race. Speak with these people. May them disperse peacefully so we can discuss our problems peacefully," said Jorlan.

"You do not deserve to be called a Gastonovian," shouted Yvarran as he moved toward Jorlan. In doing so, he tripped over his own ceremonial robe and slammed into the Warrior next to Jorlan. Without thinking, he knocked the Magistrate aside, and in moments, a fistfight with about 15 combatants had erupted. The Frodarian Warriors were keeping most of the crowd, which consisted primarily of women, at bay, but the men and women in the front group fought equally ferociously. With six Warriors against nine trained militia fighters (since all Frodarian adults had received training), it appeared to be a fairly equal battle.

JustinB shouted for calm, but was ignored by those fighting. Then, he called for more help, but Major Lucian told him to hold his position and stay out of the fight if possible. Guarding the entrance to the Bridge was of much more importance than possibly preventing a few injuries.

As JustinB turned to relay the message to the others, a large Frodarian female supporter of Yvarran was flung in his direction. She spun and punched him in the stomach. Surprised, JustinB bent slightly over as much in surprise as in pain, and was nailed in the face with a swift right jab!

* * *

Charybdis

Reports were coming in that the mob was getting close to the bridge. This was not good.

I immediately went into the war room where Cmdr. Sheba had been monitoring the situation.

"Commander. The Frodarians are approaching the bridge. I don't know what their designs are, but they can't be good. For your protection, I must urge that we don our blasters in case anything happens." I had been wearing my blaster recently around the battlestar. THe latest happenings with the attacks and such had led to such matters, but Sheba did not wish to alarm everyone with her wearing a blaster either.

"No, Colonel. We have enough security and Warriors to protect us. Showing that kind of insecurity will hurt out cause. Senior bridge personnel will not carry weapons at this time as a show of good faith toward our guests."

That was that. I didn't like her order, but I had to live with it. I would feel much safer with my blaster strapped on my hip right about now.

* * *

BSGRose

Lt Rose had just finished getting something for her lunch when the call came out for Black Squadron members to go to needed area's to make sure they were guarded well & nothing happened to them. Rose stuffed her apple in her jacket pocket along with her juice packet. Along the way, Rose ate a portion of her sandwich along the way as she headed up to the bridge to do what she could there in helping out.

Rose arrived at the area just outside of the bridge when she see's one of the female Frodian's going after Lt JustinB. She rushes over and pulls Lt JustinB out of harms way and hits the female squarely in the jaw knocking her down. Rose then turned away and went over to make sure JustinB was alright.

"JustinB," Rose says, "I thought I was the only one that got into trouble in our squadron. Yet here you are right in the middle of a scuffle. Are you alright?"

* * *

JustinB

JustinB," Rose says, "I thought I was the only one that got into trouble in our squadron. Yet here you are right in the middle of a scuffle. Are you alright?"

"Well, I decided to join the club," JustinB said with a smile. He rubbed his jaw, where the Frodarian woman hit him. "I will give them this, they sure know how fight By the way, thanks for joining the Party and for lending me a hand."

Magistrate Yvarran, seeing one of his people being hit by a female Warrior, became more enraged. At Lt Rose he yelled, "How dare you hit a Gastonovian, even if the Gastonovian is a female." At Jorlan who was preventing him from passing, he said, "See you don't? A Colonial striking a Gastonovian. Do you not care?" "It does hurt, but the Colonial female was helping out a friend. In that there is honour. I believe he would do the same for her. Now I ask you all one more time. Leave and disperse peacefully, or my warriors and myself, will leave so the Colonials can deal with you. Or we will fight by their side, until this unrest is put down. The choice is up to you."

JustinB and Rose just looked at each other, not quite sure what to make out of the situation. He then contacted Major Lucian to give him an update. He wondered how everyone else was going.

* * *

Brie

Brie made it to the Gold Squadron briefing room without being noticed. She could hear voices down the hall, but paid no attention to what was being said. The members of Gold Squadron soon joined her. She sent a message to the Med Lab to make sure that someone was keeping an eye on Najin. Brie knew that he was doing well, and he had a history of trying to sneak out of the Sick Bay. Some members of Gold Squadron were already out trying to help with crowd control, but when everyone else was there, she started.

"Those of you who remember the destruction of the colonies will understand what is going on. The Frodians are confused, hungry, worried about those who were left behind. They miss their home, and they're frustrated. These people are NOT our enemies. Set your weapons to stun, and use them only as a last resort. Be warned that there will be a full investigation if any shots are fired, we don't want it to come to that. Captain Cain will be in charge, I will be here monitoring the situation, along with Captain Skyler and Lts. Mara and Amy. Any questions?"

"Major," Lt. Mossycat said, "pardon me for asking, but why are you staying here? With your diplomatic experience..."

"It's my 'diplomatic experience' that started all of this," Brie explained. "Some of the refugees seem to be blaming me for bringing them here in the first place. Commander Sheba has suggested, and I agree with her, that it makes more sense for me to stay out of sight. Skyler and Amy as well, since they were part of the ground team. And Mara was the first person they saw when they arrived, so I've decided to keep her here as well. Any more question?" No one even moved. "Okay. Good luck."

As the members of Gold Squadron hurried out the door Brie suddenly realized that if the Frodian guards had set their weapons to stun, Najin wouldn't almost have died and the guard Dexter would have survived. She wondered if she would ever get that picture out of her head for more than a micron.

[LucianG]

Amy81

Lt. Amy had tried to get some rest during sleep cycle, finally taking something to help her sleep. Burying her comlink under a spare pillow, she had finally drifted off. But sleep was nothing but peaceful.

She wasn't aware of arriving there, but found herself in a dark tunnel. There was an odor here, something vile that suggested decay and rot. Feeling the wall, she found it to be brick-like and disturbingly warm. She pulled her hand away sharply.

There were sounds all around, a wind howling through small passages, producing a whailing, keening sound. The sounds of dripping came from all around, and underneath that a whispering like voices beckoning, pleading from all around her.

Taking a step, she found she was standing in a thick muck that oozed and swirled slowly around her. Large gobs of it stuck to the walls, the ceiling, everywhere. Pulling her foot free, the stuff ran slowly down her boot and collected at the heel, forming a thick glob that reluctantly slid off and back into the pool.

Drawn forward, she began to walk slowly, every step an effort. She turned her head from side to side, nearly catching a glimpse of something that seemed to be just out of sight. She felt that something was there, but could not catch sight of it. The wind felt like warm breath on the back of her neck.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, she put a hand out to feel the wall. It was cool here, it's touch sending a chill through her. It felt numbing, carrying with it the promise of non-existance.

A hand suddenly came through an opening in the wall and grabbed her by the collar, pulling her toward the darkness that now stretched out before her. With a sharp intake of breath, she woke up, sitting upright on her cot. Breathing heavily, realization set in that it had only been a dream. She felt disgusted, not for having had the dream, but for not being able to hold on to it longer.

Sighing, she pulled out her comlink, and heard what was happening on board. Calling the Gold briefing room, she said she was on her way. Dragging herself out of bed, she dressed quickly and headed for the door.

* * *

Lucian

Just as the fistfight broke out just outside the Bridge, Lieutenant Nylah called, "Major, where's that help? I'm all by myself here, and I've got a couple of Frodarian men and about 12 or 13 Frodarian women outside this door. I tried to talk them down, but they kept advancing, so I had to duck in here. Now, they've broken the lock, and they're trying to force the door open!"

Lucian looked a BatGal who shook here head. No one else who had reported in was anywhere nearby, so Lucian tapped a group on the squadron list as he said, "Lieutenant, if the door opens, set weapon to low power for stunning only. Drop the first wave of two or three, and fall back. Do not let them close on you. If they don't retreat, drop the next group--STUN ONLY. Repeat, STUN ON--"

"Major, I can't hold it closed! It's sliding open!" she shouted.

* * *

The laser pistol is not the ideal weapon with which to stun a person. A Warrior who was hit by a laser pistol blast on very low power once described the event as "being hit by a searingly hot sledgehammer wielded by a very large, very strong individual." Unlike a stun gun, which temporarily disrupts the nervous system snapses controlling the muscular and motor control system, the laser pistol does not have a real "stun" setting. Instead, on the low power setting, only a partial charge of the gaseous plasma is released into the ionizing chamber, so when the laser “ionizer” is activated by the trigger being pulled, the weapon “charges” only a very small amount of plasma. This reduction in charge not only results in a much shorter range of fire, but also in a greatly reduced impact at the target. Typically, the impact is still enough to fell most humans and leave them, at minimum, in pain for some time, or more typically, leave them stunned or even unconcious for a short period. In some instances, people have died from being hit by even the low power charge. One using the laser pistol as a stun weapon must be very careful.

Lieutenant Nylah rechecked the setting, and finding it as low as it would go she reaimed the laser pistol at the door, planning to use torso shots whereever possible, but only if necessary. The door slid open another 10 to 12 centimeters and then another as the group outside pushed together. To slow them down as much as possible, or even, she had hoped, to make them go away entirely, Nylah had disconnected the control from inside the room. Overhead, as she waited, she heard the soft whir of the automated conveyor system running between each set of storage racks, as the unit retrieved requested supplies from the storehouse. As she waited for the Frodarian attackers to step into the room as the door opened wide enough, she thought that if the conveyor units were restocking supplies as they ordinarily should be when the Callisto was with the rest of the fleet, she probably wouldn’t be in the current predicament. She had taken cover behind one of the storage racks on a nearby aisle, and had already picked two fallback positions in case they rushed at her instead of withdrawing when the firing began. The door was now open about a half meter, and the first man stepped into the room…

* * *

Stadia

Stadia comes around the corner and sees the crowd swarming the storeroom. She sees the crowd surge forward. She knows that she isnt supposed to fire but sees no options. She quickly pulls out her laser pistol and fires just past the man entering the door. She watches as the bulkhead glows for a moment.

The crowd scatters as they struggle to find a place to hide. Stadia carefully rushes forward and turns with her back to the doorway so she can keep her eye on the crowd.

Grimacing slightly, she hollars out to Lt. Nylah.

"Lt. Nylah, are you ok?"

Before she can hear for an answer, a laser bolt comes from no where. Stadia turns to see a man fall to the floor. She takes a deep breath in and lets it out.

"Now I am. are you ok?", she says after coming out from her position, "I am glad you showed up."

Stadia leans down to check the man on the ground. Just as she does a women runs in and falls at the man's side. Crying, she looks up at her and asks, "Why?"

I turn away to call for a med team. Her word rang hollow thru my heart. I didnt have a good anserwer for her. Taking a deep breath, grimacing, I walk back and stand near Lt. Nylah.

* * *

BSGNylah

Nylay looked at Lt Stadia and shuddered.
"Lt what is wrong? You ok?"
"It was a nightmare Stadia! They hunted me like I was their next meal!."
"what do you mean?"
Nylah sat down for a moment as they kept an eye on the door.
"Two men got thru and some women. I climbed up on the shelf to hide. They sounded like they really wanted someone's hide and I was the only one in here. Then they started to 'hunt' me. I had to jump on the conveyer belt and then managed very carefully to get in one of the boxes. I managed to get past the women and got them back out the door by firing shots at their feet. You got one guy and the other I am not sure where he is."
"Was it the one I got?"
"I am not sure Stadia. I was trying to keep from harms way."
Nylah saw the pained look on Stadia's face.
"Hey Stadia, you had to. We all had to. Don't let her get to you. We knew by joining the warrior rank this might happen one day. I am sure he will be fine! So please don't take it too hard."
"But it was me that shot him not you. I... don't know." Keeping an eye on the door that still had voices outside it.
"I know it was you that shot but you had to or one of us might be the one hurt right now. So I owe you my life."

* * *

Stadia

"Even though the my gun was set to stun, I dont like hurting anyone. He wasnt supposed to get seriously hurt." said Stadia.

Watched as the med team broke thru the door. The doctor dropped to the floor and began to evaluate the injured man. She watches as the man is loaded up and taken away.

Lt Nylah walks up behind Lt. Stadia and places a hand on her shoulder. Turns to look at the Lt. and a pain look crosses her face. She struggles not to pass out.

Stadia leans against the wall grimacing in pain. The treatment the doc gave her wasnt working. She slides down the wall.

"Even though the my gun was set to stun, I dont like hurting anyone. He wasnt supposed to get seriously hurt." said Stadia.

Watched as the med team broke thru the door. The doctor dropped to the floor and began to evaluate the injured man. She watches as the man is loaded up and taken away.

Lt Nylah walks up behind Lt. Stadia and places a hand on her shoulder. Turns to look at the Lt. and a pain look crosses her face. She struggles not to pass out.

Stadia leans against the wall grimacing in pain. The treatment the doc gave her wasnt working. She slides down the wall.
________________________________________________________

Forces herself to her feet and walks out of the room. she walks thru the crowd of people. She leaves the area and heads back to the Black Squadron barracks.

She knows she should report to Major Lucien and and the col. but she doesnt care. In her whole career she has never shot anyone. It just floors her how awful she feels.

She changes her direction and heads for the highest point on the battlestar. An old observation dome she found when she was doing repair inspections. She puts on the protective ear gear and climbs the ladder. She unlocks the bulkhead and pushes it open. she grimaces as she climbs thru. She stands on the deck and shuts the door.

She reaches up and removes her ear gear. she loooks around. she pushes the button that opens the outer doors to the vacumn of space. She sits in the chair and looks out into space

She thinks, "What right did I have to shoot that man? He was only protecting his family." She looks out at the stars, getting lost in the deep expanse.

* * *

Najinn

Najinn heard the commotion on the comm system, he was pretty angry. He got dressed in his uniform quickly, and without anyone noticing he took his blaster out of the drawer next to his bed. He felt fit, he felt better, and by the Lords of Kobol every warrior had a duty to defend the ship.

Najinn walked out of medbay, everyone was busy, but Holodoc saw him.

"Hey!" she shouted.

Najinn put his hand up to stop her.

"Holodoc, I know, 'don't you dare' and the rest, you know I respect you and you are one of my closest friends on this ship, but my squadron needs all the warriors she has ready, and I am ready. I'll be back, and I'll be careful, but duty calls!"

With that Najin walked out of medbay and headed for the bridge. He ran to the service conduits that ran up to the bridge, he thought he needed to get up the decks as quickly as he could and as discreetly as he could.

It took him a short while but as he opened the hatch door onto the bridge deck he heard all the fighting in front of him. He was behind the large group of Frodians. He hadn't been seen. He heard voices running up behind him, he took cover and waited to see who they were.

* * *

Lucian

The Fleet Security SIC, Lieutenant Proteus, arrived with a large group of Fleet Security Officers, and began making the bulk of the crowd outside the bridge area disperse. With Captain Urdea's agreement via comm, he had some of the Officers escort the Frodarians as they returned to their quarters. Ahead, Proteus could see a group of Frodarian Warriors pushing the crowd back down the corridor away from the Bridge, but he also heard what sounded like a fight further ahead. When Proteus, with four of his officers, reached the front of the remaining crowd, he faced the Frodarian Warriors. Neither side had weapons drawn, but the men and women on both sides looked nervous. Stopping, Proteus wondered how they would react. In a moment, one of the Frodarians stepped forward, introduced himself, and apologized for the trouble.

"Magistrate Yvarran our people has stirred, and now...he is causing trouble. Our Battlestar he could damage, so...some some of your Officers and some Warriors battle him and his troublemakers. We must stop him." The man nodded and the rest of the Warriors turned to go help stop the fight. Proteus looked to his officers with a quirk of his brow, and then set off down the corridor to help the Frodarian Warriors, if that was indeed where they were going.

[LucianG]

Najinn

Najinn saw the security officers head to disperse the crowd.

He carefully made an exit and heaed towards Golds Barracks.

Ok he thought to himself, it sounded worse on the comm system. It seemed under control, and may be his little escape would do him good, he decided to check in on his comrades and then report back to medbay and ask to be discharged.

He was ready for active service again and he wanted to sort out his life. He needed to get things clear, he had two very important decisions to make and he needed to get things straight in his mind first.

He marched towards Golds Barracks......

* * *

Holodoc2000

Holodoc couldn't believe that Najinn had just walked out of MedLab without getting the needed approval to go back on active duty. Just as he had walked out of MedLab the message came in from Major Brie that Najinn was to stay there in MedLab out of site for his own good. "Great! Just what I need," Holodoc mutters to herself, "the one person that needs to stay put her in MedLab just left without getting clearance to leave. I better let Major Brie know so that Gold Squadron can be on the look out for Najinn & tell him to get his tail back to MedLab before he got hurt again."

Holodoc called down to Gold Squadron's ready room & left a message for Major Brie letting her know that Najinn has left MedLab without authorization & that if any member of the Squadron see's him to tell him to get back to MedLab pronto. After sending the message to Major Brie, Holodoc thought she better let Major Lucian know also so that any members of Black Squadron saw Najinn could also do the same. After sending the message to Major Lucian as well, Holodoc went back to her needed rounds there in MedLab.

* * *

Brie

"Thanks, Holodoc," Brie said into the comm. "We'll go looking for him. I'll let you know as soon as we find him."

"Frack," said Brie as she switched the comm off.

"What's up?" Skyler asked.

"It's Najin," Brie replied, looking away from Amy. "He heard about the trouble, and just walked out of the Med Lab! I guess he didn't realize that the Commander wanted all of us to stay put." She smiled slightly, she had been growing restless anyway. "I guess we can't stay around here anymore either. We have to find Najin, before someone sees him and realizes who he is, that he was there when that guard was shot... Skyler, Mara, you two search right, Amy and I will go left. We'll meet back here in 25 centons, whether we've found him or not."

"Right," Mara replied.

The door opened, the hallway by the briefing room was empty. "Try not to be seen," Brie whispered as Mara and Skyler disappeared from view. Brie turned to Amy. It was no time to mince words. "You know him better than I do, where do you think he'd go?"

Amy thought for only a micron. "Gold barracks," she said. They started in that direction.

* * *

Lucian

"Thanks, Holodoc. I'll pass the word along to Black Squadron," said Major Lucian, who then ended the comm connection.

Lucian chuckled and said, "Well, when I saw him in the Med Lab a couple cycles ago, he said he'd be getting out soon," said Lucian to Lieutenant BatGal. "I guess 'soon' got here a little quicker than Doc and the Med Lab staff were expecting. Let everyone know to be on the lookout for him. If someone finds him, at least let us know and then stay with him until we can get someone from Gold Squadron to his location."

"Got it, Major," said BatGal. "Calling all Black Squadron Warriors, be on the lookout..."

* * *

Amy81

We left the briefing room, creeping down the hall, alert for any signs of danger. Brie touched my arm.

"Why were you late for the briefing?" she asked.

I looked back at her. "Overslept" I said, then added "Major" since she was my commanding officer. Brie just looked at me, a bit dumbfounded by my answer.

"What's with you lately?" she asked, slipping easily from officer to friend, a line that blurred often between us. I peeked around a corner, then turned it with Brie behind me.

"Nothing. I had a great dream though. Too bad it ended early."

Brie didn't know what to do with that. She asked a different question. "Why do you think Najinn will go to Gold barracks?"

Easy answer there. "He's of the misguided notion that I'm worth having" I said. "If he snuck out, for whatever reason, he'd eventually come looking for me."

"Oh-Kay" Brie replied, and we crept on, cautiously moving down the hallway.

* * *

Brie

Brie was suddenly struck by the awkwardness of the situation. She and Amy were close friends, Amy was her roommate (for Amy's protection), and Amy had admitted to being in love with two men, one of which was a close friend of Brie's and the other had saved Brie's life. It didn't help that Amy was obviously feeling down. At times like this Brie almost wished she could turn off the squadron leader mode indefinitely, and just be a friend. It wasn't possible, though. At the moment the most important thing was finding Najin.

"We're long overdue for a talk," Brie told Amy. "We'll find the time once things calm down a little."

"When will that be?" Amy said, not expecting an answer.

They turn the corner, they could now see the Gold Squadron men's barracks at the end of the hall. Hopefully they would see Najin there as well.

* * *

Capt_Skyler

Skyler and Mara crepted down the corridors looking for Najinn. So far they had found nothing. Up ahead they heard voices coming in their direction. They looked at each other, knowing at any micron someone would see them. The voices were to muffled to tell if they were Callisto personnel or Gastonovians. Spotting a storage closet Skyler keyed the entry padd, and pulled Mara inside with him. Punching in a security override code the door locked.

"That was close" Mara whispered as they strained to hear who it was outside. Who ever it was seemed to have stopped right outside the door.

"I know it was, looks like we might be in here a few centons."

"I just hope we can get out before we are late and Brie gets worried."

"Me too." Skyler looks at Mara, it had been a long time since it had just been the two of them anywhere.
"It might not have the veiw of the Observation Lounge, or Ambrosia like the O Club...."

Mara cut him short by punching him in the arm.

"Hey, the things I have to do to get you alone these days."

They both smile before they embrace and kiss like it was their last.

* * *

MaraJadeJedi

Mara pulled Skyler close. It seemed like eons passed since the last time they had time together. And that kiss. She missed his kiss!
They stood there with their heads touching and nose to nose.
"Skyler I have missed you so much!"
"And I missed you."
They kissed again.
"I love you Skyler."
"I love you too."
"Do you think they are gone?"
"Not sure."
There was shuffling of feet right outside their door. Then they heard what sounded like someone leaning on it. In even more hushed tones.
"Well I guess that answers my question. Skyler?"
"Hmm?"
"Think we'll ever get sealed? It just seems like that cycle keeps passing and it never happens. I almost thought you didn't want to be with me anymore." He kissed her deeply and she clung to him. He broke the kiss and smiled.
"Do you think I still want you after that?" Her head still reeling from that kiss.
"Uhm can I try it again? I think I missed the message in that." She smiled coyly. Skyler laughed and pulled her closer and once again they kissed like tomorrow wasn't coming.

* * *

Capt_Skyler

Skyler and Mara stayed in their embrace for a good 10 centons, even though it only seemed a few microns. Skyler listened at the door, and all seemed quiet.

"Mara, I hate to, but we need to continue our search for Najinn. Brie will be looking for us in a few centons, and we do not need to add extra worry to her."

Mara agreed with Skyler reluctantly. Mara stood with her back against the wall out of the line of sight with the door and Skyler readied his blaster incase anyone was still outside. Mara hit the control pad and the door slid open. Skyler checked the corridor outside, and motioned for her to follow. They continued on, looking for Najinn, while trying not to be seen.

* * *

Najinn

Najinn walked into the barracks and realised he hadn't been here in such a long time.

He sat on his bunk, it felt cold. He smiled to himself, he missed the action, his crewmates, his wings, but at the same time he couldn't deny his injuries were serious. Were being the word though, he felt he wanted to get back to duty.

His mind drifted as it always seemed to do these past months to Amy, he couldn't but not think of his feelings, of her total meaning in his life, he was in love, badly in love, and he knew it and couldn't do anything about it, because as much as he wanted to grab hold of her and sweep her off her feet, he knew it was Amy who had to make the next move, she had to decide if it was Najinn or Charybdis. To be honest he didn't want to face the possibility she might choose Charybdis.

He heard voices and footsteps walking up the corridor, it was Brie, and, and Amy.........

* * *

Brie

Major Brie and Lt Amy were just steps from the Gold Squadron Men's barracks when they heard a cry. It wasn't an ordinary sobbing type of cry, it was coming from a child. There was a closet to their left, Brie opened the door. Inside, crouched in a back corner, was a little girl. She couldn't have been more than a yarhen old. Brie bent down. "Come here, young one," she said. The child backed away even further, if that were possible. The girl didn't seem to like her. Brie looked at Amy. "You try."

Amy bent down and smiled at the girl without saying a word. The girl didn't move, but after a micron she smiled back. Amy held out a hand and the girl took it, coming out from her hiding place. "She's one of the refugees," Amy commented.

"Why don't you take her and try to find her mother?" Brie suggested. "I'll keep looking for Najin." Amy nodded, and started to walk away with the wobbly little girl. The crying had almost stopped. "Amy," Brie called after them, "keep your ears open. Stay away from any crowds. If you can't find her mother, take her to the Security Offices and wait for someone there."

* * *

After Amy had left with the child, Brie entered the barracks. As suspected, she wasn't alone. Brie took one look at Najin and said the only thing that came into her mind. "Lieutenant, what the frack are you doing in here? You haven't been cleared by Holodoc, or anyone else on the medical staff."

"I heard about the trouble, Major," Najin replied, "and I wanted to help. You can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"What I would or wouldn't have done isn't the question," Brie said matter-of-factly. "The last time you left Sick Bay without permission you ended up on probation, and you had to get yourself shot to avoid your punishment." Brie softened a little. "Come with me back to the briefing room. I'll let Holodoc know I found you. We'll sort all of this out later."

Checking to see that no one was coming, Brie and Najin left. After several moments of silence, Najin spoke. "Um, I thought I heard Amy's voice before."

"We found a lost little girl," Brie told him. "She's taking care of that situation."

[LucianG]

Lucian

“…and for that reason, we must always be vigilant, ready to battle, but we must also be ready to lend a helping hand to our fellow humans in need. Warriors of the Battlestar Callisto, I salute you! To our Warriors!” Commander Sheba raised her glass in toast, and was joined by the others assembled in the room. “To our Warriors!” they all said together.

Sheba walked over to Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis, saying hello to a few Warriors as she went. “Have you received an update, Colonel?” she asked.

Charybdis knew that even at a reception, the Commander was always thinking of her ship. “The briefing went well. Major Brie ran the meeting, with a little input from Major Lucian, Captain Buellah, and Captain Jorlan. It was a good discussion, and a lot of ideas were pitched on how things could have been done a little better, but overall, the consensus was that the Warriors on the mission did a very good job.”

“I think that would be a reasonable description,” said Sheba. While the repair crews were fixing a few items damaged as the Callisto traversed the asteroid field, overall, she was VERY happy that things weren’t worse; however, as a matter of course, she couldn’t give too much praise or it would make things more difficult the next time. “Yes, a very reasonable description.”

* * *

Nurse Holodoc arrived after the briefing was over, just as Commander Sheba was concluding her brief remarks. She saw Lieutenant Anubis standing near the back of the room, so she went over to join him.

“Holodoc, that is a tear on your cheek,” he stated. “You have been crying. Why?”

She moved over and leaned against him. “There were several people injured in the riots this morning. Most were minor, but the last person brought in to the Med Lab was the one that Lieutenant Stadia had to shoot to protect Lieutenant Nylah. Stadia had her pistol set to low power, but the man…” she paused, wiping tears that were now streaming down her face, “…well, he had a heart condition. Doc and I operated for several centars. We did everything we could, and we thought we had him stabilized, but…I guess it was just too much for him. He died a little while ago….”

* * *

“Here you go, Lieutenants,” said Major Lucian, handing both JustinB and Spyder a drink. “I’m sorry the food isn’t any better, but you know the situation with the rationing. I’m surprised Cook was able to make this look so nice as it is.”

“Understood, Major, and thanks!” said JustinB. “I figured that they’d break out something special for tonight though since it is a party for the Warriors.”

“There are a lot of people on this ship other than Warriors, Lieutenant, and as we saw from the events earlier today, some of them think we are taking more than our fair share of the supplies. We can’t do that since we must protect all aspects of this ship, including its internal peace.”

“Good evening,” said voices behind Lucian. He turned to see Lieutenants Nylah, Kris, and Resonat who had just approached them. They talked for a couple of centons, particularly about Nylah’s harrowing escape from the mob, before Lucian asked, “Nylah, have you heard from Lieutenant Stadia?”

“No Major, although we just heard a rumor that the Frodarian guy she shot while rescuing me died a little while ago. She was pretty upset earlier, so I was thinking of going to look for her.”

“Lieutenant, you stay and enjoy the party. I’ll track her down. Lieutenants, have a good time,” Lucian said as he gave a farewell wave. He went to call the Med Lab to see if she’d ever shown up there again.

* * *

“So did you ever find him, Major?” asked Lieutenant BatGal. “Our Warriors were looking, but no one ever reported seeing him.”

Major Brie replied for the benefit of a couple people in the group who weren’t familiar with what had transpired, “After Lieutenant Najinn disappeared from the Med Lab, we mobilized Gold Squadron to look for him, and a little later, Black Squadron started trying to find him as well. Lieutenant Amy and I were searching together, trying to stay away from the crowd….”

* * *

Brie

"After Lieutenant Najinn disappeared from the Med Lab, we mobilized Gold Squadron to look for him, and a little later, Black Squadron started trying to find him as well. Lieutenant Amy and I were searching together, trying to stay away from the crowd. On the way to the barracks we found a lost little girl. Amy took care of her, and then I found Najinn." Brie glanced around the room. She noticed that several faces were missing. "Has anybody seen Captain Skyler or Lt. Mara?" Brie asked, not really meaning to change the subject. Several people shook their heads. "Hmm. They were supposed to meet me back in the Briefing Room, but they weren't there." She also noticed that Lt. Amy wasn't at the reception. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to send her to the Security Offices with the young girl.

* * *

Stadia

Stadia stared out the window with tears flowing down her cheeks. Never in her career either as a fleet security officer or as a colonial warrior had she ever drawn her weapon. She had never gunned down an innocent civilian.

She turned her head so she could see the stars. She took in the immense vastness and the darkness of deep space. How she longed to be on Gemni again with her family. Her fingers slide over the locket hanging around her neck.

"Oh frack! I forgot the damn reception." struggles to get up, grimacing all the way. She heads to the bulkhead door and slides on her ear protection. She pulls the door open and slides down the steps, stopping only to pull the door shut.

Stadia makes her way thru the corridor to the Black Squadron barracks. She wipes the tears from her eyes. Not looking where she is going she plows head first into Major Lucian.

"Lt. Stadia, I was just coming to find you. I have some news to tell you." he says as he guides her into the barracks. "The Frodarian that..... God I hate this....He died awhile ago."

Stadia's face blanches as the words sink in. She had killed her first person. She turns away from Major Lucian. Crying partly from pain and partly from guilt, she leans her head against the wall. Not saying a word she stands there.

"You had no choice. Lt. Nylah was in trouble. You also had no way of knowing he had a heart condition...." Stadia turns to him, anger running across her face.

"In all my time as a Colonial warrior and in Fleet Security, not once did I have to draw my gun or fire at an innocent civilian. I could always take control of the situation. Today I lost that control and I hate it. A man had to pay for it with his life. There is no good reason for death." she turned away from him not wanting him to see her cry.

Major Lucian just stood there for a moment listening. When he saw her turn away, he started to place his hand on her shoulder, pausing only for a moment before placing his hand on her shoulder. He knew she would let it eat her up inside but was at a loss to help her.

** *

Lucian

Most everyone at the reception seemed at least a little glum. The faces that should have been happy and smiling at the thought of the successful completion of another mission were made sad by the recent troubles on the ship. Bringing on the Frodarians had been a risk from the beginning, but no one had guessed how volatile the situation would become, nor how deadly. Word of the death of the Frodarian man spread like wildfire through the Warriors at the party. The discussion went from "Oh, how sad!" to "That's a risk you take when you riot." Surprisingly, the latter sentiment seemed to prevail among the Frodarian Warriors at the party. A short time later, Captain Jorlan, who had worked his way to the front of the room, called for a toast.

"The Gastonovian people were welcomed by your people even though you faced enormous difficulties of your own at the time. When you found us circling the Star Frodar, you could have passed us by, leaving us to our fate among the hoards of Cylons, but in your charity, you accepted us as long lost brothers and sisters. You took us in and helped our people when the worst opposition to this came from some of our own people, some of those you try to help. It may take a while before our people accept it, but we are one people as our forefathers on the Gastonov were when they left Colonial space about 150 yahrens ago. Now, we are more than just Gastonovians, or Frodarians as you call us, or Colonials; we are humans, working together to survive and prosper. This toast I raise to you, who saw how our course could be together, how it should be together, even when we opposed it," Jorlan said looking straight at Major Brie. "It may be a while before this union is complete, but as long as we work toward it, there will be hope for our species. To our peoples, working together as one! Salute!"

Glasses were raised and clinked together, as many of the Warriors repeated, "To our peoples, working as one!"

"Captain," said Lieutenant Lusitan, "some of your people oppose what you just said. Some of them rioted today--"

"Yes, Lieutenant, some did, but many others did not. We will continue to work to get all of our people to unite as we should be. They must understand that there is no option if we are all to survive. They must also understand that those who try to convince them otherwise are either ill-informed, mis-informed, or flat-out lying for their own purposes. But enough of this talk! This is a party! Let's have a drink and be happy!"

"Yes Sir, Captain!" said several of the Warriors nearby and their dates.

* * *

Lucian hesitated. His hand was outstretched, mere centimeters from her shoulder. He wanted so badly to comfort her, to give her that solace that she needed in this loss of innocence, but he wasn't sure how. His fingers fluttered momentarily over her shoulder, then settled lightly, then more firmly. He pulled her toward him, turning her back in his direction. The tear tracks stained her face, but he didn't try to wipe them. Instead, he opened his arms and pulled her in, allowing her to bury her face in his chest. He held her gently, but with a firm grip. He patted her back with his hand and said, "Lieutenant, go ahead. Cry if you want. This is such a very tough thing you face. Your fellow Warriors and I are here to help you in whatever way we can...."

Lucian continued patting her back, like a father comforting a young child; however, it suddenly dawned on him that this was a Warrior, a full grown woman, who might strenuously object to such behavior. His heart suddenly raced at the thought of his action, and how it could be considered by some, including possibly Lieutenant Stadia, as wildly inappropriate. Rather than suddenly pushing her away, jumping back, and beginning to apologize for any inappropriate action, he just hoped she understood that he was just trying to be a friend.

* * *

Stadia

Stadia, not really caring if rules were being broke, lays her head on his shoulder and crys. After awhile, she pulls away from him. She straightens herself up. She wipes the tears from her eyes and turns away from him.

"It never should of happen...", she grimaces, " I hold myself responsible for that mans death. I will never forgive myself."

Major Lucian looked on as one of his warrior was ripping herself up. He didnt know how to help, other then listen. He feared anyother action might be inappropriate.

"The worse thing about is hearing that lady ask me why. It shook me to the core when I realized there was no reason for it." Stadia turns and looks Major Lucian in the eyes. "There was no reason for it at all."

She turns and walks out of the barracks not really caring about rules. She heads back to the dome. She really cant handle being around people right now

* * *

Brie

"This toast I raise to you, who saw how our course could be together, how it should be together, even when we opposed it. It may be a while before this union is complete, but as long as we work toward it, there will be hope for our species. To our peoples, working together as one! Salute!"

Captain Jorlan's toast surprised Major Brie. She waited until he was alone, and then approached him. "Captain Jorlan," she started. "That toast...did you mean it?"

"Cap...um...Major," Jorlan started. "I meant what I said. My people and your people need to work together if the human race is to survive. On a personal level, I'm willing to work with you and put aside our differences for the good of our people. But I still don't like you and I will never forgive you, if that's what you wanted to know."

"That's pretty much what I thought." She glanced around the room before walking away. No one seemed to be enjoying themselves. There were whispers of the man who had died. Poor Stadia! Brie didn't know her all that well, but she knew what she was going through. Maybe she should look for her.

[LucianG]

Brie

Trying to think of a reason to stay at the reception was pretty hard for Brie. Although the Commander was still there, Major Lucian wasn't, which gave her a precedent for leaving. It had been a very long day, and somehow the idea of a party just didn't sit right with her. There was one person standing between her and the door, someone that she was surprised that she didn't want to avoid. It was Captain Lazant.

"Major," he said. His smile was genuine, not the fake smile that he could so easily slip into when he wanted something. "I hope all is well with you. When I heard about the trouble, I was worried, especially after what happened before."

Brie held her finger to her lips. "I didn't tell anyone else about that. Nothing really happened, he didn't even threaten me."

"Okay, it will be our little secret. Did you have any problems with the rioting today?"

"Not personally," Brie said. "The Commander basically had me hiding. It was pretty frustrating." Brie couldn't help but notice that several people were looking in her direction. Lazant wasn't well liked, and they were probably surprised that she was even talking to him.

"I won't keep you," Lazant said. He either didn't notice the stares or was used to ignoring them. "I was just wondering, have you given any thought to those fencing lessons that I offered?"

"If I can find the time, I'd love it," Brie said truthfully. "It's just when."

"It will be well worth it," Lazant said. "I'll check with you later, once you've had a chance to go over your schedule."

"Okay." She left the reception, her budding friendship with Captain Lazant on her mind. She knew that it might make a few people angry, but at that moment she didn't care.

* * *

Stadia

Stadia walked down the hallway. She felt awkward as noticed the stares. She quickened her pace. She hated what she had done. She couldnt see straight thru the tears. Stadia enters the dark hallway leading to the observation dorm. She slides the ear protectors over her ears and continues on.

Despite the muscles of her lower back spasming, she climbs up the ladder and pushes the door open. She climbs thru and turns to push the door shut.

Once the door is shut, she reaches up and pulls the ear guards off her ears. she looks out the window and sees the vipers flying out to go on patrol. As she is looking she removes her laser pistol and sits it out of site.

She carefully sits down in the chair at the computer banks. She grimaces as her muscles grab. She sits down and struggles to breath thru the pain. She looks out at the stars and thinks of her family.

"Oh daddy, where are you when I need you?", she closes her eyes as she ask the question outloud. She soon falls asleep, exhausted from the day's events.

Soon she is dreaming of running thru the open spaces with her older brother. Him trying to grab her arm to get back the tool that she had taken from him.

"Stadia! Give that back. Dad is going to kill me if I dont make those repairs."

Stadia runs back to the house holding the tool in her hand. All of sudden these darkships fly over in the sky. Her brother tackles her to the ground as one fires its lasers across the field.

"Eeeee!" Her brother places his hand over her mouth and quickly drags her to their feet. They race back to the house.

Stadia jumps to a sitting position. Her face crinkles up as the pain of her back rips through her mind bringing her back to reality. She takes in a deep breath and leans back in the chair, her thoughts drifting off again.

* * *

JustinB

With drink in hand, JustinB approached Captain Jorlan. "Captain Jorlan Sir, I would like to thank you for giving us a hand at protecting the bridge," he said.

"Not at all Lieutenant, you had done a good job until my warriors and I intervened. I merely placed Magistrate Yvarran in his place, but you are welcome."

JustinB scanned the crowd and saw Holodoc with Lt Anubis. He placed down his mug and headed to the Med-Lab. As he entered he saw both Jarrynn and Ensign Phoebe at their consoles working. "Hi there Jarrynn," he said.

Jarrynn turned around and said,"Let me guess, you got nailed by Frodarian woman and need treatment."

"Yes, I did get nailed, no treatment is necessary. I have come to bring you to the reception and get you that drink I said I would get you."

Without a thought Jarrynn got up from the console and made her way to JustinB. She turned to Ens Phoebe and said" I won't be gone long, if you need me I will be at the reception."

Along the way JustinB told Jarrynn about the riot and what happened guarding the bridge. They entered the reception and JustinB got Jarrynn that drink.

"Thanks for taking the time, to come and grab me. It gets so busy at times, that it seems like I don't get to enjoy myself or relax. By the way congrats at being promoted," she said.

"Thanks, anytime you want to get out for a good time and a laugh, let me know and if I'm able I will make it happen."

After a few more drinks and a few laughs, Jarrynn told JustinB she had to get back to the Med-Lab. Before she left she added, "Remember, you can drop by and say Hello anytime, Bye."
After Jarrynn left he tried to find Lt Rose. He wanted to say 'Thankyou' for the backup at the Bridge. So he picked up another drink and started to look for her.

* * *

Lucian

"What happened with the Magistrate, Sir?" asked one of the Frodarian Warriors, struggling with the Colonial grammar after a lifetime of the Gastonovian idiom. "Talking we have been among the People, trying to get them to see that we are now part of something much bigger than our own world. Constantly in the way Yvarran is. His influence over our few men who aren't Warriors and over our women is firm. Is he being punished for today's actions?"

"No. His movements have been restricted to our people's quarters, but it was felt that confining him to the brig would cause more trouble than it was worth. This I seriously doubt. More trouble will he be until something is done about him," replied Jorlan with sad frown. "Unfortunately, that means things may get worse before they get better...that, my friend, is not to concern us tonight. Tonight, we celebrate our escape from the Cylons! Tonight, we begin our new course to find ways of defeating them...once and for all."

Some music was playing and a few of the Warriors with dates had started to dance. Some smiles were now in evidence as the party began to look more like a party.

Lieutenant Nat smiled at Kris and said, "As far as I know, I'm not much of a dancer, but if you don't mind risking a toe or two, I'd love to have this dance." He held out a hand for a beautiful lady....

* * *

MedievalSong

I looked at his hand and blushed. I took his hand and couldn't help but to smile at him. All that went wrong today seemed to just melt as I heard the music and started dancing with Nat. All the stress from the missions, the stress from the riot, they were all gone as I looked into the eyes of this man before me. We danced and at some point I stopped seeing the others in the room. I was enjoying this moment with Nat. We were having fun. He accidentally bumped into me. I grabbed a hold of him to keep my balance and started to giggle. Nat, seeing me giggle, started to laugh too. He had wrapped his arms around me when I grabbed onto him. Now I found myself staring into his eyes. I could get lost in those eyes of his. I wanted to kiss him, but I wasn't sure he wanted me to in front of everyone else. I felt my face flush at the thought of kissing him.

* * *

Lucian

She was a princess--no, the only princess--at a grand ball, and for some unfathomable reason, she had chosen him. As they swirled around together on the make-shift dance floor, troubles melted into the background, and they seemed to become as one. IF, Nat suddenly realized, the other half of one didn't mind being jossled a little. Yanked back to reality as he attempted to avoid her feet, he broke the rhythm, and they crashed together, laughing. Struggling to keep from tipping sideways, Nat looked into Kris' twinkling eyes. He didn't like public displays of affection, but in this case, it seemed right. Holding her closer, he kissed her gently.

* * *

Amy81

Carrying the small child Brie had discovered, I had gone to the security office, but they had been no help. They simply didn't have complete records yet, and no missing children had been reported. The black shirt on duty suggested I head over to the area set aside for the Gastronovians. The child distracted me, and not really mindful of the dangers of his suggestion, I turned and left.

The child was adoreable, with big bright eyes. For whatever the reason she had taken a liking to me. There was nothing but trust in the small face that stared at me as we walked the halls. How she had gotten so far from her area, I had no clue.

As we entered the settlers area, I could feel the change in the air. With my free hand I felt for my blaster. I kept my fingers resting gently near it. I boosted the child up with my other hand, and walked further. I passed several woman who turned away at the sight of me. No, not at the sight of me, but of the men who had fallen into step behind me.

"So the Colonials resort to sending a spy hiding behind one of our own innocents?" a voice spoke out, deep and full of resentment. Surprised, I stopped walking and turned to the man.

"This child seems to be lost.." I began.

"A female spy no less" said another man. "On our world, spying is the lowest form of deceit."

I ignored the comment. More people began to gather, and I spoke out to them. "Does anyone know who this child belongs to?" I asked. The child smiled at me and pulled at my nose. "Anyone?" I asked.

A woman pushed through the people and approached me. "Thank all that's holy" she said, reaching for the child. "I did not know what to do, who to.." She was cut off by one of the men.

"Keep your place, Kovia" he said roughly. The woman took the child from my arms, a look of sincere thanks on her face. Looking over at the men bitterly, she turned and disappeared into the crowd of people. With the child out of sight, I turned to deal with the men.

"I am not spying on you."

"Forgive if I don't believe you. The words of you and your kind mean nothing. They ring hollow, valueless."

"Why?" I asked. "What makes you say such a thing?"

"Words are wasted on the likes of you. You will only truly listen to one thing." With that he took a step forward, and several others did the same. On pure reflex I drew my blaster. "Close enough" I stated flatly.

"What a surprise!" the man said. "You look to kill more of us?" He turned toward the group. "It is as I have said. These people have no regard for our kind!"

My temper flared. "What I have", I said, "is no regard for a mindless mob bent on lords-know-what. I brought back your child, and now I'll leave."

"I think not" said the man. "Because you have a weapon, you think you can dictate, female. You are mistaken."

"Fine" I said. I was beyond thinking, and ready to kick some idiot male behinds. I opened a nearby disposal chute and dumped the blaster inside. Slamming the lid, I turned to face them again. "I've really had it with you and your male superiority. You want to try and see just how superior you really are?"

Movement behind the crowd caught my eye. I could have sworn I'd seen a black shirt moving among the people. I couldn't find him again in the sea of people. Then it occured to me. A set up. Could it be? If so this might be more than it seemed, and more than I could handle. The black shirt back at security suggested I come here. A few idiots I could deal with, but if this had been planned out, organized.... And like an idiot I'd dumped my main defense down the chute. I really had to work on my act-first think-later mentality.

[LucianG]

Lucian

"Captain, by the way, I just thought you'd want to know. That young Lieutenant Amy, the one you were asking about, came by a little while ago with one of the Frodarian children. There weren't any missing persons reports, so I suggested that she could take her to their community quarters," said Sergeant Whitcher, who was about to go off duty.

Urdea turned bright red. "Whitcher, you didn't! There may be a link between the trouble we've been having on the Callisto and what happened earlier today. Quick, find Skon, Winnie, Hawke, and Proteus. No, strike Skon. You're with Proteus. Find that girl!"

A very embarrassed Sergeant Whitcher contacted the Security Officers Urdea had named. So much for getting off early this evening!

* * *

He hadn't heard from Winnie and Hawke, but Proteus and Whitcher had reported no luck at all. Urdea was failing gloriously as well. Some of the Frodarian women he'd spoken with ("spoken to," perhaps?) acted surprised to learn that there even were any women in the Colonial Warrior corps, despite the fact that there were several women in the ranks of the Frodarian Warriors. Then again, a couple of the Frodarian women had acted somewhat surprised that there were even any Colonial females at all, so he suspected that much of their surprise was an act, however silly and poorly played.

As he walked, Urdea considered the investigation of his own Fleet Security force. He was sure that there were two bad eggs. He suspected two or three more, but what was so elusive was finding the ringleader and the proof needed to close down their operation. He just hoped that Whitcher hadn't inadvertently given them one of the things they'd been seeking for quite some time....

* * *

Lucian had decided against returning to the party, so upon leaving the Black Squadron quarters, he set out for the Bridge. His "discussion" with Stadia had brought back memories of the time when the Odyssey Nine was rescued by the fleet. They'd been in the asteroid belt, hiding, and Lucian had used the shuttle to fake an explosion of the O-9. It had evidently fooled the Cylons, but not before his parents and several others were killed and the 0-9 was damaged beyond possibility of repair. The frustration and guilt had plagued him for several sectons after the survivors had been rescued by the Galactica and the fleet. Finally, after talking with a number of people who'd been on the Colonies at the time of the attacks by the Cylons, he realized that sometimes bad things happen and no matter how hard we try, there's little we can do. That must be what Stadia was feeling now.

As he turned a corner, he saw Major Brie approaching. "Good evening, Major Brie. You look as if you've reason to escape the party as well."

* * *

Stadia

Stadia was walking into the area of the ship that held t he Frodorians when she heard Amy's voice. It didnt sound right.

Stadia slowed down and looked around the corner. She could see Lt. Amy surrounded by several by several Frodorians. She noticed the black shirt amongst the crowd.

"What the frack?"

Reached down to grab her piston only to palm the empty space where her pistol had been. Damn, she had left it. She knew Amy was going to need her help despite how lousy she felt. She quietly walks upto Lt. Amy.

"Lt. Amy any trouble here?"

Lt. Amy jumps and turns toward Stadia. Stadia walks upto the male Frodorian and places her hand on his chest.

"Here is another one. Did you come to kill us to?"

Stadia's heart drops as the words slice thru her heart. She keeps her calm about her.

"I suggest you...", she says as she pushes him back,"...go back to the corner you were hiding in. You dont want to see a female Colonial Warrior get her ire up, you little skreeter. Now all of you back away." she hollars at them.

Stadia carefully backs up pushing Lt. Amy behind her. She keeps an eye on the male that she was pushing around. When they get far enough away from the crowd, Stadia turns to Amy and asks,"Did you see the blackshirt in that crowd?"

"I thought I did but wasnt sure. It felt like a setup but me being the act first think later type threw away my laser pistol. I heard about what happened. Are you ok?"

Stadia turns and starts to walk away.

"I really dont want to talk about it now. WE should report what happenned to Major Lucian and Major Brie."

Stadia walks in the direction of the reception area.

* * *

Amy81

A voice came from behind us as I walked away with Stadia. I turned to find Kovia walking toward me haltingly. She looked from side to side as she approached, seemly fearful of something or someone.

"Could I talk please, a moment?" she asked me. I turned to Stadia. "Hold up a micron?" I asked, and she nodded okay. Kovia took my hand and led me to several crates off to one side. We sat down there.

"I want to thank you for returning my child. A risk it was to do so." She studied my face, and fretted over the split lip I got during a few blows that were exchanged before Stadia arrived. The guy who did it wasn't going to be able to straighten up for at least a secton, which filled me with more joy than I cared to admit. "You handle yourself well for a female" she observed.

"No" I corrected her. "I handle myself well as a human being. A warrior. There is no need to qualify it or measure it to any other standard but that one."

She dug in her belongings and produced a vial of liquid. "Allow me, please" she said as she drew closer to my face. I held still while she applied some to my lip. "Lords" I cried out, "what is that stuff? My lip feels twice as big!"

"Feels so only, it does" she replied with a smile. I took her word for it, my lip feeling numb yet prickly.

"Tell me, Kovia" I asked, "how did your child come to be so far from you?" Her face grew pained, like I had used some of that ointment back on her. "Please not to ask?" she replied.

"I thought I saw a security man here. A man in a dark black uniform. Has such a man been here, Kovia?"

She grew more pained. "Simple woman I am. I know nothing of matters such as this."

I took her by the hands. "Kovia, there is no such thing as a simple woman. You are a woman, no less a person than any man. If there is something going on here that I should know about, please tell me."

Kovia sat in silence, her head down. When she looked up, her eyes rested on Stadia, waiting patiently down the hall. "This is the woman who killed one of us?" she asked.

I nodded. "Her name is Stadia. What she did, she had to do. We can not fight among ourselves or we are only doing the Cylons work for them. She helped bring a bad situation to a quick end." I looked down the hall at Stadia, who looked like she bore the universe on her shoulders. "If it's any consolation, she feels as badly about it as you do."

"This does not bring back the dead", Kovia replied.

"No, but maybe it reminds us that we are all human, and need to stick together so that tragedies like this do not happen. When we hook up with the fleet again, there will be supplies and food for us all. Until then, we must be patient." I looked at Kovia intently. "Now, is there anything you should be telling me?"

Kovia shifted nervously, then rose to her feet. "Thank you for returning my child, warrior."

"My name's Amy" I said as she walked away. She turned back toward me, and softly replied, "I know". I got an sudden chill down my spine, for we had never met before today. How was it that she knew who I was? I walked back to Stadia as I mulled it over a little.

"What was that all about?" Stadia asked.

"Not sure" I replied. "Thanks for coming along when you did. Holodoc wouldn't have appreciated a medlab full of men with multiple butt fractures."

"You know, ditching your blaster down a disposal chute isn't the best of strategies", she commented.

"Can't argue with that" I replied. "Can't argue at all."

* * *

Capt_Skyler

Skyler and Mara continued to look for Najinn, long after the 25 centons were up. Skyler tried to call the briefing room serveral times, but no one was there to answer. What is Brie and Amy had gotten into trouble. This side of the Ship looked quiet. They were near the area set aside for the Gastronovians and about ready to turn around when a Fleet Security Guard came rushing from that direction. Skyler moved Mara next to the bulkhead and stood in front of her. For some reason this Blackshirt made his skin crawl. Something about him just made anyone looking at him know he was up to no good. He walked past the two warriors and only grunted. He whispered over his shoulder to Mara.

"Wonder what bonehead was up to in there?"

Mara was watching the Security Officer's retreating form..."What ever it is, I know its no good."

Skyler and Mara saw a communications panel, and checked bay in with the Briefing room. Brie wasn't there yet, but a young ensign answered. He informed them that Brie had Najinn, and that they were to report for the Party ASAP.

"Party?, with all this trouble, why would we be having a party?"

They turned and headed back to the breifing room....

* * *

Brie

"Good evening, Major Brie. You look as if you've reason to escape the party as well."

"After all that's happened today, Major, I don't really feel like partying." She could see on his face that Lucian felt the same way. "How's Lt. Stadia? I heard about what happened."

"It's hard," was Lucian's response. He filled Brie in on the details that she was missing. "We've all done things that we've regretted, that have left us filled with guilt, but I'm at a loss at how to help her."

"Do you think she'd talk to me?" Brie asked. Lucian looked a bit surprised, and Brie wasn't sure how much he knew about her mission to Frodar Epsilon. "I've been in similar circumstances, I know how she feels."

"It's worth a try," Lucian said.

Right on cue, Amy and Stadia walked around the corner. Brie was relieved to see Amy, she had worried about her ever since suggesting that she take the child to the Security Offices. Amy and Stadia told them what had happened. "Amy, why don't you and Lucian go and report this," Brie suggested. "Tell either Captain Urdea or the Commander. Or Charybdis. I'd like to talk to Stadia for a centon."

Amy and Lucian agreed. "And Amy," Brie added, "I would consider it a personal favor if you didn't wander around the ship alone. Just as a precaution." Amy looked disgusted, but nodded. Brie didn't know if her friend was agreeing with her or not.