<strong>Cabel Bellar<br/>Bulkhead 31<br/>Port Crew Deck E</strong><br/><br/>Cabel sat heavily on his bunk, cane resting between his legs.  The two other civilians who shared his room were still out in the ship.  He stretched his bad leg, doing his best to not think of the pain medication tucked away in his bed-side drawer.  If one could conquer his own pain, then he could conquer anything.  That was a truth Cabel whole-heartedly believed in.  In the entire shakedown cruise, he had only taken two pills.<br/><br/>The PA crackled.  It was Commander Heller.  The man's prelude was hardly comforting.  The knot of anxiety grew into a veritable boulder.  What came next shook him to his core.<br/><br/>The Cylons returned, the Colonies nuked, the Colonial Fleet obliterated.  Cabel fell back onto his bunk, staring at the metal struts holding the one above him.  He gripped his cane with white knuckles.<em>"We may be the last members of humanity left alive."</em>He mouthed those words over and over.  Were all of the Colonies hit?  How could the Cylons...  How?  Gods, Aquarius!  Heim!  His family...  Such a backwater planet might have been overlooked.  It<em>was</em>the cold season; there were maybe 20,000 people on Aquarius.  Would the Cylons nuke a village?!<br/><br/>The sickening reality hit Cabel.  If half of what he had read about the Cylon War was true, they would.  They would throw every nuke they had, turn the planets into spheres of molten glass.  They only knew how to destroy.  He felt like throwing up.<br/><br/><em>"Please have Mr. Cabel report to my office immediately!"</em><br/><br/>That caught his attention, even if the man said "Cabel" instead of "Belar," who else could he mean?  Cabel leaped off his bunk, thanking the anonymous speaker for giving him something to do besides slowly kill himself, wondering over the fate of his family.  Without thinking, Cabel pulled out his pain medication, swallowing one of the pills dry.  After a moment's hesitation, he forced down another.  What could it matter, now?<br/><br/>He stepped out into the corridor.  A squad of marines jogged by, done up in full kit, weapons cradled in their arms.  Some wore grim expressions, others looked shell shocked.  One man appeared to have recently been crying, although his expression was murder now.  Cabel could understand that.<br/><br/>"Excuse--" his voice cracked.  Frak, he could cry too!  No, there would be time for mourning.  Now, though, someone needed to see him.  He cleared his throat and began again.  "Who just requested a Mr. Cabel?  I didn't recognize the voice."<br/><br/>One of the marines shouted back over her shoulder.  "That was the Major, Major Corvin!  Check the CIC!"  They rounded a corner and were gone.<br/><br/>Stomach still churning from the news, Cabel turned and stumped his way towards the CIC.  It would take him five minutes to get there.  When he arrived, Cabel stood just inside the glass entryway, looking around uncertainly.  He remembered Major Corvin now, one of the pilots who had flown with the prototype.<em>Why does he want to see me?</em>Cabel wondered, scanning the crowded room for the Major.