1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** _Battlestar Galactica and all related characters are the property of Universal Pictures and Syfy Channel and based on the series created by Glen A. Larson. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

* * *

**THE CYLONS WERE CREATED BY MAN**

**THEY REBELLED**

**THEY EVOLVED**

**THERE WERE TWELVE MODELS AND MANY COPIES**

**SOME WANTED TO DESTROY MAN…**

…**OTHERS WANTED TO MAKE PEACE**

**THE PEACEMAKERS HELPED MAN FIND EARTH**

**SOME CYLONS SETTLED THERE…**

…**OTHERS WENT TO FIND THEIR OWN PLACE IN THE STARS**

**NOW, THE CYLONS THAT LEFT ARE ON THEIR WAY BACK TO EARTH…**

…_**AND THEY HAVE A PLAN**_

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY, ON BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:**

"All this has happened before…"

"But the question remains, does all this have to happen again?"

"This time I bet 'No.'"

"You know, I've never known you to play the optimist. Why the change of heart?"

"Mathematics. Law of Averages. Let a complex system repeat itself long enough, eventually something surprising might occur."

* * *

**EARTH, 150,010 YEARS AFTER THE FALL**

**POPULATION: 6,697,254,041**

There were few things in life Gina Sexton hated more than the shrill sound of her cellphone's alarm tone. That was important. An otherwise pleasant tone would simply have lulled her back to sleep, and she would never have gotten up at Six AM on a Sunday morning. She'd also taken the extra step of sequestering the phone behind the lamp on her nightstand so that she couldn't reach it without getting up or toppling the lamp. With a sigh she chose option A, sitting up on the edge of the bed and stretching before reaching around the lamp to retrieve the phone. A few keystrokes later, there was blissful silence in the bedroom again.

Gina just sat there for a moment, eyes half-shut, blond hair disheveled, her Seahawks nightshirt hanging haphazardly off her tall, slim body, and contemplated the agenda for the day. It would start, as did every Sunday, with church. (Not her idea.)

Movement and a soft groan drew Gina's attention to her bedmate. There she lay, half under the covers and her back turned to Gina. Gina smiled, appreciating the sight of the naked back and remembering the feel of the rest of the naked body that she'd played with so shamelessly last night. Grinning, Gina half-turned and leaned over to brush aside long black hair and plant a long kiss on the side of her partner's lips.

Valerie Ochoa squirmed and tried to turn away. "Ugh! Morning breath! You're kissing me with morning breath!"

Gina backed off and rolled her eyes. "Such a romantic."

"We can be romantic _after_ you brush your teeth."

"We won't have time afterward, darling, because we have an appointment with God's home on Earth...and then I have to go to work."

"Then you'll just have to postpone having your way with me again until later tonight. And anyway, didn't we do it enough last night? Why aren't you as tired as I am?"

"I _am_ as tired as you. I just don't get to sleep in on Sundays anymore."

"Well, whose fault is that?"

"Oh, boy..." Gina muttered. she wasn't going to get into that argument right now. She straightened up and stretched again. "Come on, Val," she said through a yawn. "It's your fault I have to go to mass today so the least you can do is pretend you're enthusiastic about going too."

"All right, already!" Valerie said. "I'm getting up!" She sat up groggily, letting the sheets covering her flop down and expose her nude torso.

Gina looked at her and giggled.

Valerie glared back at her through squinted eyes. "What's so funny?"

"You look so hot and stupid," Gina said. She was taking in every inch of dusky skin that had been revealed to her. "You make me want to do a sex tape with you."

"Fuck you," Valerie said.

Gina was suddenly cheerful. "I believe you managed that a few times last night, dear!"

"Good! Then my work is done! Go find another girlfriend!"

"Can't. All the other Hot Asian Lesbians are taken. I checked."

"Then on behalf of me and all my sistahs..." She pointed imperiously at the bathroom. "...go bathe!"

Gina grinned wickedly. "Want to shower together?"

Valerie leaned toward Gina and pinched her cheek. "Oh, sweetie, I'm sure by now you know how to take a shower all by yourself!"

"Showering by myself is boring! Showering together is fun!"

"Yes, but showering by yourself means you might actually get clean, as opposed to when we shower together and spend most of our time trying to poke each other with the showerhead."

"I'm not going to get you in there with me, am I?"

"Not this morning." She kissed Gina's cheek and pointed again. "Go."

Gina sighed "Yes, Dear" and got up off the bed, then she trudged to the bathroom door. She stripped off the nightshirt just inside the door, then did a little dance for Valerie's benefit.

"It's not working," Valerie said with a grin.

"Oh, you _know_ it's working," Gina said with a wink and a nod before she closed the bathroom door.

* * *

She emerged twenty minutes later wearing towels around her torso and hair and accompanied by a cloud of shower steam. "AAAAAAnnnnnd, I'm done!" She said.

"Good!" Valerie said. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed and rocking back and forth. She got up as quickly as she could without opening her legs and darted toward the bathroom.

"Wait!" Gina said, blocking her way. She smiled and asked through her teeth, "Teeth pretty?"

Valerie shifted her feet and nodded. "Gorgeous!"

Gina exhaled. "No more morning breath?"

Valerie started to bob up and down. "Nope! Minty Fresh!"

Gina smiled prettily. "Kiss me now?"

Valerie looked scandalized for a second, then attempted to raise up on her toes to kiss her tall lover...then crouched down with a grimace and crab-walked around Gina and into the bathroom. "Hold that thought!" She squealed as the door closed.

Gina grinned wickedly and tiptoed over to the door. She pressed an ear against it and giggled when she heard her baby sigh in relief. "You know," she teased, "you wouldn't end up in that state if you didn't insist on sending me in before you on Sunday."

"And you know perfectly well," Valerie retorted, "that I take longer to get ready than you do, so you'd just end up in a worse state!"

"Ah, but if we just took turns peeing and then showered together, think of all the time we'd save..."

"Or lose because of that one-track mind of yours!" The toilet flushed and Valerie opened the door enough to stick her head out. "And anyway, we could also solve the problem by you finally putting in a water closet downstairs like you keep promising to do."

"'Have done,' dear, by an actual plumber."

"Don't think you can handle it, Miss Big Shot Engineer?"

Gina checked her fingernails. "I'm just admitting my limitations. If you want a functioning water closet, we hire a plumber. If you want one with a sink and a toilet that transform into robots, I'll take a crack at it."

"Show off," Valerie said. She stuck her tongue out at Gina and ducked back into the bathroom. "I started coffee!" She called through the door.

"'Kay!" Gina called back. She unwrapped the towel from her hair as she moved over to the small, fancy vanity in the room, then she sat down and began to blow dry and brush her hair. By the time Valerie was done in the bathroom Gina was deep into their shared walk-in closet looking for something to wear.

Gina held an outfit in front of her as Valerie stepped in. "What do you think?"

Valerie smirked. It was one of Gina's power suits. It was jet black and consisted of tailored slacks, a vest and cinch-waist jacket. Gina usually wore a white or pink half-open blouse with this one, along with black spike-heeled boots. "It's perfect," Valerie said. "It's mannish and dykey and says proudly 'I use my ring finger to fuck other girls.' The church ladies will hate it...and you, by the way."

Gina grinned and held two thumbs up. "Awesome! That's just what I was going for!"

Valerie just shook her head and left to blow dry her hair. A few moments later Gina emerged from the closet carrying the suit, a white blouse and the boots and laid everything out on her side of the bed. Then she headed for the dresser, tossing her other towel haphazardly into the bathroom on the way.

The dresser was across the room from the vanity, so Valerie turned her head enough to watch out of the corner of her eye as Gina picked out some underwear. When they'd first moved into their modest house, Gina had left it up to Val to work out where their clothes would go in the bedroom. Maliciously, Val always kept their unmentionables in the bottom drawers assuming that, tomboy that she was, Gina would never do something as ladylike as crouch to get something from them. In the two years since they'd moved in, Gina always put on a show when Val had the opportunity to watch her dress.

When she reached the dresser, Gina stood in front of it and bent at the hips to open her drawer and collect panties and a bra. Her legs were slightly spread, and the view the motion displayed to her made Valerie bite her bottom lip. _Damn_, she thought, _those long, exquisite legs converging on glory!_ It took only a second before Gina straightened up, but the image was burned in Val's brain whenever she got a chance to see it. With the show over, Valerie turned her attention back to her hair.

Gina slipped on the black lace undergarments and then went over to the bed and got fully dressed. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and checked the opening of her shirt to make sure she was showing just enough cleavage, then checked how she looked overall in the full length mirror by the vanity. With the blow dryer still going full blast as she brushed, Valerie called out to Gina, "You look like a trophy wife in mourning!"

Gina leaned close and cupped her ear. "What's that?" She called back. "You say you want to fuck me like a trophy wife this morning? Okay! Let's do that instead of going to church!"

Valerie turned off the blow dryer. "Leave me so that I can get dressed in peace."

Gina laughed as she turned and left the bedroom.

* * *

The next order of business was to grab the Sunday paper. Gina trotted downstairs to the living room and poked her head out the front door. The paper had landed halfway up the front walk, so she would have to take a short trip to retrieve it. As she walked down she looked around at her neighbors' houses. No one else was outside in the sleepy neighborhood right now, but she knew for a fact that several of the houses' occupants were getting ready to attend the same mass as Gina and Valerie. Some of them were the evil church ladies. Gina thought about them and grinned as she bent to pick up the paper.

The heavy Sunday edition of the Post-Intelligencer was in its component parts before Gina got back inside. A quick glimpse of the front page of the Sports section reminded her the Seahawks were playing the Arizona Cardinals this afternoon. _I miss football_, she thought. She hadn't seen a game on gameday since the season started.

Gina kept the Sports section and spread the rest of the paper out on the island in the kitchen. She read the front page column about the division game she was going to miss as she went to one of the kitchen cabinets and got out her "World's Sexiest Engineer" mug, then poured some coffee from the coffeemaker on the counter. She only laid the section down long enough to sit on one of the island's stools, then started scooping sugar into the mug as she resumed.

She was halfway through the coffee and almost through with the column by the time she heard Valerie clack into the kitchen in heels of her own. "I hope you didn't use up half the sugar in the jar like you always do."

"'Course not. I showed amazing restraint," Gina lied confidently.

Valerie didn't buy it, but didn't pursue the matter. She simply went to get her _LIVE! with Regis and Kelly _mug(it looked just like the ones on tee-vee) and poured her own coffee.

Gina finished the column and looked up as Valerie walked to the other side of the island. Her eyebrow went up. "Canary? Seriously?"

Valerie smiled. "Somebody has to offset your 'Vampire Diaries' look." She was wearing a canary yellow dress and blazer with matching pumps, gold stud earrings and a gold choker with a little crucifix on it. She had taken the trouble to tie her hair into a twist to show off the jewelry. "How do I look?"

"Like your mom," Gina said with a raised eyebrow...then she pretended to be a hillbilly while she said, "...but that's okay, 'cuz yer mom's _hot_!"

"Shut up and finish your coffee," Valerie muttered, then sat down opposite her as Gina obeyed. She thumbed through the remains of the paper and found the magazine, then added two light spoonfuls of sugar and a dash of creamer to her coffee before settling in to read.

They continued to read and drink coffee in silence for ten minutes, then Gina lowered her section and her mug and leaned forward to talk to Valerie. "Sweetie, do we _have_ to go to church today?"

Val never raised her head. "Yes."

Gina persevered. "It's just that...I really do want to spend as much time with you as I can, because I don't have all that much free time lately...and, yes, that's partly my fault, but I have time to be with you now...and I utterly _don't_ want to spend any of it sitting on a hardwood bench in the midst of a bunch of hypocrites professing their love of God and their fellow man."

"Duly noted, but you just said you wanted to spend time with me, so unless you change your mind about that, mass is how you'll be spending it."

"You can worship God anywhere, any way you want."

"Exactly, and I _want _to worship God at St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church in the way I've done it since I was baptized."

Gina groaned and pressed her fists to her temples. "Some of those people hate us."

"And some of them have been very sweet...at least to me. They might be sweet to you too if you didn't act like every one of them is a queen bitch all the time."

"I don't act like that at all!"

"Please! Last week Mrs. Passamonte took me aside and asked very quietly if you've ever abused me."

"Hmmph. Does she actually care?"

Now Valerie put down the magazine and coffee and turned to look Gina in the eye. "Yes, she cares! I'm trying to tell you that not everyone in the congregation is an enemy!"

"The Church itself considers us the enemy! They think we're nothing but sinners!"

"All human beings sin! The _definition _of sin is not doing what God intended!"

"Well that makes it pretty hard to avoid sin, doesn't it, considering no one can know what God's intentions truly are!"

"So the way you find out is to talk to him and listen and hope he answers...and I prefer to do my talking _in a church_. And anyway, stop bullshitting me. This isn't about the few pinheads who don't want to see us there. You have a problem with God himself."

Gina shrugged. "Herself, itself..."

Valerie plowed on. "You spend so much of your life making little pieces of metal fit together and move around that you've forgotten how to have faith in things you can't see."

"I'm not having a crisis of faith, Val..."

"No, it's only a crisis if you want to hold on to faith. For some reason, you don't want to hold on, and that makes you resist going with me."

"Can't it just be that I've outgrown the ritual and ceremony? I was baptized and confirmed too, you know..."

"It's not the ritual. It's the _object_ of the ritual."

"So now you're analyzing me?"

"I don't have to analyze anything. I already know you better than most people."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely. In fact," - she checked her slim watch - "I'm pretty sure you were trying to start a longer argument with me so that it would be too late for us to go, and maybe we could have make-up sex afterward." She smiled. "Nice try. We'll get there in time for the first reading."

* * *

They actually got there a few minutes before - thanks to what Gina liked to call Valerie's maniac driving - and found seats in the nearly empty pews in the back of St. Anne's. Only a few glances shot their way as they entered, and true to her baby's word, only about half were openly hostile. The others were actually friendly, and she could see Mrs. Passamonte offer Valerie a smile and a wave. The smile melted when she glimpsed Gina, and she looked as if she'd jump between the two lovers to protect her friend, but she at least offered a little nod.

There was one thing Val had been wrong about. No matter what her other misgivings were, Gina loathed the drudging repetitiveness of the Catholic Mass. _The same damn thing, every Sunday since I was five, _she thought. From the readings, to the sermon, to the Sign of Peace, Holy Communion, etc., Gina saw it all coming, and wished fervently - though silently - that some cosmic being with a remote control would save her from this eternal rerun. Her feelings were usually so acute on the subject that whenever the priest finally said "Let us go in peace to love and serve The Lord," she was the most emphatic of the congregation in giving the standard response:

"Thanks be to _God!_"

Valerie was one of those parishoners that liked to stop and compliment the priest on the service, a practice that Gina had never understood. _It's like congratulating an extra for reading a stage direction properly. It's not like he'd had to ad lib anything._ Still, she shook hands with him politely and stayed quiet as Valerie discussed the mass with him for few minutes. He didn't seem especially belligerent towards them, but Gina was ready to excuse herself to the car in case anything fire-and-brimstone like started spewing out of his mouth. Fortunately, nothing like that happened.

After the visit with the priest the trek to the parking lot was interrupted a few times by friends of Val's. Valerie introduced Gina to the ones who didn't know her and spent a moment sharing small talk with each. Mrs. Passamonte and her husband were last. The woman was cordial enough when Val introduced Gina, but the diminutive, salt-and-pepper haired grandmother had a look on her face that said "I'm watching you and I have the Domestic Violence Hotline on speed dial!" _How boring,_ Gina thought as Val politely turned down an invitation to the Passamontes for brunch.

They walked to their car holding hands. "There," Valerie said, "that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Oh, it was torture," Gina over-acted. "Absolute torture! I don't know if I can go on!"

"Drama queen..." Valerie muttered.

Gina smiled. "Okay...it wasn't so bad..."

"Was it tolerable enough for you to try and come with me more often?"

"If I say 'Yes' can I have a kiss?"

"If you say 'yes' I won't leave you for a tennis player. If you say 'yes' and _mean it_, I'll think about the kiss."

"Then I'll think about saying 'yes'. After all, it's not like you're going to find a tennis player to shack up with on a Sunday morning."

Valerie huffed. "Sometimes I hate you with an all-consuming passion."

Gina smiled and acted coy. "Stay with me and I promise I'll grow on you."

They didn't speak again until after they were belted into the car. Valerie was in the driver's seat again. She paused just before her thumb reached the starter button and turned to Gina. "Are you _sure_ you don't have time to have breakfast with me and the girls?"

Gina got very serious. "I'm sure, sweetie."

"You wouldn't have to stay the whole time. Just a few minutes..."

Gina sighed. "Val, I had time to go to church with you or have breakfast with you. Not both, and you chose church."

Valerie frowned. She started fuming as she started the car, then continued to fume as she guided it out of the church parking lot and out of their little Seattle neighborhood. It wasn't until they were on the highway to Renton that she felt calm enough to speak again. "You know, I'd love to know what you're building that's so goddamn important it keeps you away from home for so much of the week."

Gina pinched the bridge of her nose. _I guess we are going to have this argument after all. " _I have told you, over and over, that I can't tell you what I'm building, because then we'd both go to jail..."

"Why? What's the big secret? It's not like I can't figure out you're building some kind of robot! I was _sleeping with you_ while you were studying robotics in college, remember?"

"..._ and _I have also told you why we're putting in so many hours working on it..."

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah...big fucking government contract..."

"Exactly! The big fucking government development contract that the company is currently behind schedule in fulfilling, and that the company is trying to negotiate an extension for, and until we get that extension we're obligated to meet the original deadlines, which means we have to put in more hours. You're lucky I could carve out this much time on a weekend and we're not working 24/7..."

"Right, I feel so lucky...Come off it, Gina! You _do _work 24/7! When you're home I need a nuclear bomb to blast you out of your stupid little office and away from your stupid little computer, and even then your lackeys are always calling with some little problem or another!"

"God, Val...I have an obligation to finish this project! What do you want from me?"

"You have an obligation to _me_, your partner, and I'm just selfish enough to want you to give that obligation priority. I'm tired of sharing you with some...bomb-sniffing moon rover..."

Gina gasped and stared at Val with wide eyes. "Who _told_ you?"

Flustered, Val alternated between watching the road and looking at Gina. "Wait...what, that's it? That's...?"

Gina grinned. "Just kidding." She pointed out the windscreen. "Watch the road."

It would take a minute. Gina had to be sure she'd defused the situation properly, so she watched Valerie's face. Val's mouth twitched a few times, then she started to laugh, more out of frustration than amusement. "Hate you..." she muttered, "...all-consuming passion."

Gina settled back in her seat. "I'll be happy if there's at least more passion than hate."

"Well, don't get too comfortable, because that depends on how you address my _other_ problem with your job."

Gina's eyebrow went up. "What other problem?"

Valerie hissed the name through her teeth. _"Brittany."_

"What's Brittany got to do with...wait...you don't think we're having an affair?"

"I know she _wants_ to have an affair with you. It's so obvious."

"She's not even bisexual, Val!"

"She can be totally straight and still have a strong enough girl-crush to want to do it at least once."

"And what bad co-ed porno did you get that bit of wisdom from?"

Val smirked. "I got it from _you_, that night in our dorm after you were nine beers into our bender and you started telling me your sexual history. As I recall, that 'bit of wisdom' was supposedly the source of a third of your sexual conquests."

"You should know better than to listen to me when I'm drunk."

"You should know better than to talk when you're drunk. And all I'm saying right now is that Brittany the Research Assistant is campaigning hard to join that third of your conquests."

"Well, that's silly. I don't see that at all."

"Of course you don't. Here...maybe it would be clearer if it were someone _playing_ Brittany." She took a deep breath, then put on the most fawning smile she could manage. "Oh, you're _sooo _brilliant, Dr. Sexton! I'm _sooo _lucky to be working with you! That's a wonderful idea, Dr. Sexton! You'll get the Nobel prize for sure! This company would be lost without someone like you here, Dr. Sexton! Gee, could you fistfuck me on your desk while I sing a love ballad to you, Dr. Sexton?"

Gina could only stare for a moment. "I think you're exaggerating just a little."

"Yeah, _just_ a little. That's kinda my point." She sighed. "Well, I suppose I should be grateful it's just some girl fresh out of college that's my competition. With all the men you work with I'm surprised none of them has made a move on you."

Gina chuckled. "I'm not. They don't want to fuck me. They want to fuck _you."_

"Beg your pardon?"

"Yeah..._now_ who's oblivious? You should see the horny stares you get when you visit the facility. Sometimes I want to carry around a bucket of ice water just to pour down the guys' pants."

"Seriously?"

"Y'know, it makes perfect sense when you think about it in context. Obviously, the real reason for all the extra work hours is really to work me to death so that all the guys can come to my funeral and gang-'comfort' the widow."

"Ewww! Don't even joke!"

"About me dying or you getting tag-teamed?"

"_Either_, you sicko!"

"Fine, fine...all I'm saying is if I have a fan club, yours is _bigger_."

"You realize all you've done is give me another reason to hate where you work."

Gina sighed. "Always happy to help you find perspective, darling."

* * *

The compound that housed the Searing Aerospace Advanced Defense Programs facility dominated the nearby city of Renton with its expanse. Known colloquially as the "Ghost Works," it was where Searing engineers developed top secret projects for government agencies. The facility consisted of a few administration buildings, several hangars and an airfield with a ten-thousand foot runway. The entire complex was surrounded by a carefully grown and maintained forest area and high walls of varying types, all designed to discourage snooping from local roads. There was only one way in by car, a winding access road that led to the massive main gate.

Valerie turned onto the access road and slowed down. Gina smiled but said nothing. Val always turned into a more conscientious driver whenever she turned onto the road, as if she were afraid someone might mistake her for a deranged car bomber. (The security exercise Gina broke several rules to tell her about might have had something to do with it...)

They reached the gate a few minutes later and Valerie slowed to a stop in front of the barricade extending from the guardhouse on the right side. A tall, well-built male security guard came out of the guardhouse and walked around to the driver's side. While he walked, Gina pulled her ID passcard out of a jacket pocket and Val grabbed her dependent's pass from the driver's seat visor.

The guard bent down to look in the driver's side window and smiled. "Morning, Dr. Sexton," he said.

"Morning, Jimmy," Gina said. She handed Val her ID, then Val handed both cards to Jimmy.

Gina watched closely as Jimmy took the cards. She was sure his smile got perceptibly wider as he said, "Good Morning, Ms. Ochoa. How are you today?"

"Just fine, Jimmy," Valerie said with a smile of her own.

"Could you pop the hood and the trunk, please?"

"Sure." It was a routine enough request. Valerie touched the appropriate controls and the hood and trunk popped open.

Jimmy nodded. "This will only take a minute." He straightened up and headed back into the guardhouse as two other guards came out, one leading a German Shepherd on a leash. The dog handler let the shepherd sniff around the perimeter of the vehicle. The third guard followed behind them, pausing to inspect the engine for a few moments before closing the hood. Jimmy had come back out by the time the others had reached the trunk. He went back to join them.

Gina seized the opportunity. She leaned over and whispered in Valerie's ear, "Right now, Jimmy's telling them that they could knock me out and carry you away with them before anyone even noticed..."

Valerie swatted her away as Gina giggled. "Oh my God, _Stop it!_" Val hissed.

The sound of the trunk being closed settled them down. They were sitting properly in their seats when Jimmy came back to return their ID cards. After that he stuck a small sticker on the front windscreen just above the DMV tags. "There you go," he said, "you're all set."

"Thanks, Jimmy," Gina said as she took her card back. Meanwhile, Valerie was forcing herself not to laugh at the sticker. _Big, top secret facility making weapons of doom and the temporary access sticker is colored pink._ It struck her as hilarious every time she drove in here.

Jimmy drew her attention again. "Now remember, Ms. Ochoa, that sticker means you can drive in, drop Dr. Sexton off..."

"...and drive right back out," Valerie finished, "no stops. I remember."

Jimmy smiled, then said, "And you want her cleared to pick you up later tonight, right, Doc?"

"That's right, Jimmy," Gina said through her smiling teeth. She hated being called 'Doc.'

Jimmy didn't notice. He never did, which is why he kept on smiling as he said, "I'll take care of that. You ladies have a nice day." He straightened up and signaled the guardhouse. Someone inside raised the barrier, clearing the way for Valerie to drive on through the massive open gates. She proceeded just as cautiously as before, gliding further down the winding road until it lead her to the administration section of the complex. She brought the car to a halt right in front of the entrance to the tallest building.

Gina reached into the back seat to get her briefcase and started to get out of the car, then thought for a moment and turned to Valerie. "Val, look, I just want to say..."

But then she couldn't say anything, because Valerie's soft lips were pressed against hers, and Valerie's soft hand rested against her cheek, and then there was that beautiful kiss she'd been waiting for all morning, and it lasted long enough that it didn't seem crazy to think they could stay that way forever.

Of course they couldn't, and they both knew it, so they parted reluctantly after several seconds and looked each other in the eye, smiling. "I love you," Gina said softly.

Valerie smirked. "I know," she said mischievously.

Gina giggled. "Geek girl."

"Go build stuff. I'll see you tonight."

"Okay." This time Gina got out of the car and watched from the sidewalk in front of Main Admin as Valerie drove off. She waited until the car was out of sight before turning and walking into the building.

The Main Administration Building housed offices for all the Advanced Defense Program division officials, project managers and Lead Engineers. Lead Engineer on her project, Gina had already decided not to visit her own office before going to the lab. Everyone else should be there already.

There was another security checkpoint to go through first. Just inside the door was a set of millimeter wave scanners manned by more security guards. The scanners projected a three-dimensional image of your naked body - and anything else that might not be allowed - to an attached monitor. Gina swiped her ID card in a reader, handed her briefcase to a guard, took a deep breath and stepped in front of the device. Halfway through the scan she wondered how often her image ended up on the internet somewhere, then she consoled herself by thinking that Valerie's few scans were likely more popular.

Fully cleared, she retrieved her briefcase and made her way out of the lobby, down one of the main halls and out the rear exit that led to the Motor Pool, a covered garage that housed a fleet of covered golf carts and small buses. Someone was standing next to a running cart when Gina entered. It was a young, dark-haired, pretty girl who grinned and waved, calling out, "Doctor Sexton!"

Gina smiled back as she approached. "Hey, Brittany!"

Brittany Reed, Senior Research Assistant on Gina's project, stopped waving when she had Gina's attention, but the cheery smile remained plastered on her face. "How was your morning off?"

"Short," Gina said as she handed Brittany her case. "I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do."

The eternal smile faded just long enough for Brittany to express her sympathy. "That's too bad." A shrug, new smile. "Well, maybe it just wasn't meant to be." She put the briefcase in the back of the running cart. "Maybe the powers that be think what you do right here is more important."

"Oh, yes," Gina deadpanned, "those powers that be and their kooky priorities."

Brittany giggled. "You're funny, Doctor Sexton!"

"I'm here all week..." Gina muttered. She got into the passenger seat of the cart while Brittany got into the driver's seat. Gina couldn't help but glance at Brittany, a slim girl with a penchant for tight sweaters and skinny jeans. For a fleeting moment, as Brittany settled in, Gina's mind's eye was filled with an image of the girl's naked legs, open and waiting for the engineer's approaching hand. Gina shut her eyes on impact and squinted.

"Are you okay, Doctor Sexton?" Brittany said.

"My eyes are a little sore," Gina said. "Got up too early. You can go ahead." _Thanks for putting the idea in my head, Val! _

Gina didn't see Brittany shrug because she didn't open her eyes again until she felt the cart move. She silently thanked the security protocols that required project personnel not to speak while in the open air (someone was afraid of satellite footage being sent to a good lip reader), so she couldn't say anything else stupid until they were inside the lab. The trip only took a few minutes. Brittany parked the cart in a lot behind Hangar 18. Locating the lab here was supposed to add one more bit of security to the package. Anyone who saw engineers entering or leaving was meant to assume that an aircraft was being worked on.

Inside, a two-tier multipurpose lab had been constructed to serve as a final integration and evaluation facility. The upper level of the lab was a catwalk that ringed the hangar just above the upper edge of the main doors and contained a horde of computer workstations for the engineers to use. The lower level was the evaluation floor. Ringed by servers, sensors and video cameras it was mostly empty save for a large, white, metal box that dominated the center. On the floor surrounding the box were various marks that indicated milestones in the evaluation program.

Gina headed straight for the stairs to the upper level as soon as she entered the hangar. Brittany trailed behind her carrying her briefcase. As an afterthought, Gina took off her coat and handed that to Brittany as well, prompting the girl to head back downstairs to the locker room in the crew rest section of the hangar. Gina continued around the catwalk until she saw the people she was looking for and they saw her. Along the way, she noted that all the workstations were up and running.

"There she is!" Dwayne Powers called out. He was sitting at the Main Systems Integration workstation flanked by two others, a man and a woman. "How was your morning off?"

"I wish I was important enough to rate a Sunday morning off," complained the woman, Jenny Booth. "I've worked so many hours the past few weeks that Mrs. Precious Pants hardly recognizes me when I come home. Sometimes she won't even jump on my lap."

"The missus told me that if I didn't start coming home nights she'd leave me for her tennis instructor," the other man, Lenny Bachman, cracked.

Gina stopped short at the workstation and looked at him. "There's a lot of that going around…" she said.

Dwayne seized on the quip. "Am I detecting trouble in paradise, boss lady?"

"It was never paradise, Dwayne…but let's just say I feel all of your pain and I am highly motivated to get this fucking project over with." Just then Brittany came running up to Gina. She was now wearing a lab coat and holding one up for Gina to slip into. The others were in lab coats already. When she was all settled into the garment, Gina said, "Okay, old business."

Dwayne, the Mechanical Systems Specialist, began. "We think we finally figured out what was causing the shimmy in the upper right leg assembly."

Jenny, the Lead Programmer, continued. "We scanned the code for the control software and found several lines that create greater variations of movement than we originally expected. We can fix the problem here in the lab. I've already got my team working on it, but it will take the rest of the morning."

"Do you think you can finish before we have to run the high speed test?" Gina asked. "That's time-critical."

"I'm sure we'll have the code re-written, but running the preliminary diagnostic on the affected systems will eat into the program time."

Gina sighed. "Then just don't do the diagnostic. We'll just find out if the fix took the hard way. Next?"

Lenny, the Sensor Integration Specialist, spoke up next. "The problem with the sensor mount is a hardware one. It looks like we'll have to recalculate the tolerances of some of the parts in the steering mechanism. The ill-fitting ones are slowing the mechanism down and causing it to take longer to do a full sweep."

Gina squinted and pinched the bridge of her nose. Jenny took the opportunity to lodge a complaint. "Why are we even using a mechanically-steered sensor suite in the first place? We made all the sensors small enough to fit on the end of the mount easily. We could just put in a full electronically-steered array."

"The program office wanted us to go with the mechanical steering," Dwayne said, referring to the officers in charge of the Pentagon's side of the development program. "They figure the entire unit is complex enough as it is and are thinking that a less advanced sensor system will be easier to maintain in the field."

"Not to mention cheaper to install…" Lenny interjected.

"Not if the parts don't fit," Jenny told him. "It's not cheaper if it has to be redesigned, and a properly engineered electronic array would be just as easy to maintain as the mechanical one, if not easier."

Gina chuckled mirthlessly. "Oh, really? A 'properly engineered' array? Like a properly engineered Space Shuttle, which is so versatile and utilitarian that we can launch one a month and they'll _save_ us money."

"Or like a properly engineered U-2 spy plane," Dwayne said, "which flies so high that the Russkies will _never_ be able to shoot one down."

"Oh, and let's not forget properly engineered cruise liners like the Titanic," Lenny said, "which is so well-built that she would never sink, never I say, but especially not on her maiden voyage."

Jenny frowned. "Screw you all. I still think we need an electronic array."

"And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us for this installment of 'Engineering Fairy Tales,'" Gina said. Brittany giggled again, prompting Gina to turn serious. "Look, they asked for a mechanical array, so let's give them one. Let's not complicate their lives or _ours_ any further by redesigning the whole system at this stage of the game. So Lenny, I ask you, can you fix the problem before today's scheduled test?"

"With the amount time necessary for disassembly, machining and reintegration? Hmm, lemme think." He made a big show of thinking, then said, "Gotta say 'Not a chance in hell.'"

Gina threw up her hands. "Fine! We'll just add it to the FUBAR list." It had an official name, but Gina's word for it summed it up nicely, as it contained all the post-integration problems that had no quick-fixes. She sighed again. "Any new business?"

"We got the results back from yesterday's exercise," Dwayne said, "and it looks like the foot-pad material is wearing away faster than we expected. We have to find a way to reinforce it or find a new material…"

"…or just let the thing stand on bare metal," Gina said, "which causes a different set of problems."

"We haven't found the glitch in the targeting software yet," Jenny said apologetically.

Gina closed her eyes, took a deep breath and said, "I require coffee. Pools of it."

Brittany perked up immediately. "On it, boss." She turned and headed for the stairs.

"And food!" Gina called after. "My breakfast was a communion wafer."

Brittany turned her head. "I'll call the commissary. Turkey bacon and egg white on multi-grain bread, right?"

"You know what I like, Brittany."

Brittany smiled. "You_ know_ I do, Doctor Sexton!" She turned eyes-front and fairly fashion-model strutted off the catwalk.

Gina winced as she suddenly realized how porny that exchange sounded. _I swear, Val, if I get fired for sexual misconduct I'm so blaming you._ With that thought she turned back to the other scientists…who were all smiling. She pointed at them. "Don't you start. Dwayne, walk him out. I want to see him."

"You got it," Dwayne said, still smiling. Gina was already headed for the stairs, so he called up the command and control program on his console and activated the unit. One side of the metal box was swinging open as she descended and was fully open by the time she reached the safety circle painted around the box's perimeter.

Deep inside the darkened box and about ten feet off the ground a small red light – the visible side effect caused by the activated sensors – swung from side to side. Gina watched each transit carefully and huffed. _Yeah, that's slower than it should be._ She put that out of her mind as she heard the _whirr/thunk_ of a heavy metal footstep. Three such footsteps later the ten-foot-tall, fully-articulated, humanoid endoframe the sensors were mounted in was standing across the safety line from Gina. Its head tilted forward to look down at her.

Gina looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Cy," she said.

An electronically masked monotone responded, "Good-Morning-Doctor-Sexton."

She smiled wider. _Voice and pattern recognition programs are still working._ "I hear you have a few more things wrong with you today, but we'll fix them, and eventually you'll be perfect…and you'll own this dinky little planet."

"You say that every morning!" Dwayne called down from the catwalk.

"I mean it every morning!" Gina called back. "Let's get to work."


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** _Battlestar Galactica and all related characters are the property of Universal Pictures and Syfy Channel and based on the series created by Glen A. Larson. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

* * *

With Gina safely at work on her super-secret bomb-sniffing robot project, Valerie let down her hair - literally and figuratively - as she headed back to Seattle for her weekly brunch date with her (platonic) girlfriends from work. Usually, brunch involved drinks and sweet treats at the Seattle's Best Coffee located near their graphic design firm. Val picked up speed as she got further away from the Searing facility, eager to both get to her destination and away from the corporate fortress.

She made the transit in record time, but still ended up being late. She walked through the entrance and immediately spotted her friends sitting at a nearby table already enjoying their coffees. One of them was Amelie St. Pierre, a brash, upbeat daughter of Haitian immigrants who'd been friends with Valerie since they were both hired by the firm within weeks of each other. Another was Stephanie McCafferty, a buxom blond with a pretty face and a raunchy sense of humor who was a transfer from one of the company's offices on the East Coast. They'd brought a newcomer with them, Valerie could see. It took a moment to remember the slender, honey blond woman's name. Right...it was Michelle Stottlemeyer, a graduate student apprenticing with Amelie.

As Valerie approached the table, Amelie called out, "There you are! Girl, you should have been here long ago. We started telling embarrassing stories about you ages ago since you weren't here to stop us!"

The three women chuckled at that. "So that's your game," Valerie said as she put her stuff in an empty chair, "attack the one who can't defend herself?"

"A tried-and-true method of weeding out the weak links," Stephanie said with a grin, raising her large mocha in salute.

"Just let me get my stuff and we'll make this a fair fight," Valerie said. She left her giggling friends to go to the counter. She returned about seven minutes later with a chai latte and a block of cinnamon crumb cake. "Okay," she said to Michelle as she settled in, "what slanderous libel have they been spouting about me?"

"It's nothing bad," Michelle said with a slight blush. "They just told me why you might be late today."

"Yep," Stephanie said, "our dear friend was finally gettin' some this morning!"

"To The Queen!" Amelie called out, then she and Stephanie "clinked" the tops of their cups in celebration.

"Yeah, yeah," Valerie groused, "if by 'some' you meant a sip of wine and the host."

Stephanie almost did a spit take. "You're shitting me!"

Amelie put her hands on her hips. "You mean you finally had her home for a whole weekend for the first time in like forever and you went to church?"

"Did you at least make up for lost time after church?" Stephanie said.

"Nope, 'cause right after church I had to drive her up to Fortress Maximus."

Michelle raised her hand a little. "Um, wait...what fortress?"

"That's just what she calls Ghost Works up in Renton," Amelie said.

Michelle's eyes widened a little. "So wait, your..." She looked lost for words.

Valerie smiled. "'Partner' is fine."

Michelle nodded. "Your partner works for_ Searing_Ghost Works? The company that makes all the super secret spy planes and futuristic fighter planes?"

Val sighed. "Yeah, that'd be the bunch of assholes she works for."

"Now don't be pissy, Valerie," Stephanie scolded. "It's not Searing's fault that you can't manage to work a little nookie with your girlfriend into a whole weekend."

"Oh, that's not true, because after she spent all night Friday and all day Saturday either on her cell or her laptop we did manage to squeeze in about twenty minutes of quality time where Gina used me like a blow-up doll she hadn't seen since she hid it under her bed at her parent's house!" She took a sip of her latte and mumbled, "Her and her stupid bony fingers..."

"Ah, young love..." Stephanie said. "Isn't it romantic?"

"Forget romance!" Amelie said. "Right now she's supposed to be telling us stories about hot lesbian monkey love and she went to church!"

Val stared at her in disbelief. "So...I'm just a walking Penthouse Forum to you, is that it?"

"Yes!" Amelie and Stephanie said in unison.

"I'll prove it," Stephanie added. "Tell Michelle about how you and Gina met."

"Oh, come on," Val said. "She doesn't want to hear about that..."

"Um, actually, I would like to hear about that..." Michelle said.

Valerie could see it in her eyes as she spoke. Great. Another one. And this one hadn't even met Gina yet. Something about Gina Sexton and college girls.

She took a sip of her coffee and thought,_ Well, Val, you should know..._

* * *

**SIXTEEN YEARS AGO**

**TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY**

**GALVESTON, TEXAS**

Valerie checked the numbers on the doors carefully as she carried her first two boxes through the corridors of Briggs Residence. She already knew she was on the right floor, so it was just a matter of locking on to the right dorm number. When she got there she found the door open. Somebody was moving around inside.

Valerie snuck in and saw that her roommate was already moved in. The far side of the room already had posters on the walls - framed ones at that - and the meager university-supplied furnishings were laden with things like a portable TV, an alarm clock radio and a laptop computer. The roomie, a tall, skinny girl, was bent over, making the bed. The linens she was using looked expensive, as if she were just slumming at Texas A&M before heading off to Yale.

Valerie also couldn't help but notice how the woman's tight black leggings showed off her athletic butt and legs. Val spent a moment just staring and biting her lip, then she composed herself and said, "Hi."

The roomie straightened up and turned. "Oh, hi," she said with a wide, toothy grin. She was really tall, very pretty, and the Dallas Cowboys cut-off jersey she was wearing showed off a toned midriff that fit perfectly with her legs. She ran a hand through her golden blond hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail (its natural state, as Valerie would eventually learn) and then extended the other to Valerie. "Gina Sexton."

Valerie smiled and put her boxes on the free bed before shaking hands. "Hi. Valerie Ochoa. I see you're all settled in."

"Oh, yeah. I got in a couple of hours ago. It didn't take me long to unpack."

"It may take me a while. I have a bunch of other stuff in the car."

"Want some help carrying it up? Maybe I can save you a trip or two."

"That'd be great! Thanks!" She was about to turn to leave when she got a good look at one of the framed posters. Her head cocked a little as she moved a step closer. "That's from a manga, isn't it?"

"You mean a Japanese comic? I think so. I know the artist is Japanese."

Val chuckled. "It's two girls kissing."

"Um, yeah..." Gina said.

"If you're a girl and you hang something like this on your wall, people will talk."

Gina shrugged. "Let them talk. It's my preference."

Valerie didn't look away from the poster. "Oh...is it?"

"I've been out for two years. I figure if my poster makes people talk about that, it'll save me the trouble of having to say that over and over again."

"An interesting strategy..."

"You either use the rumor mill or get abused by it. I learned that the hard way in high school." Gina took a step closer to her and said, "Listen, if it bothers you..."

"Why should it bother me? You have a drawing on the wall showing two Japanese schoolgirls making out and it's hanging where you can look at it while lying in bed." Val smirked and looked back at Gina over her shoulder. "That just tells me how much work I have to do to seduce you."

She turned away, and without another word she stuffed her hands in the pocket of her jeans and sauntered out of the room. She expected Gina to be a little shocked, but the real test would be how long it would take for the tall, blond sexpot to catch up.

Valerie was halfway down the hall when she heard the gratifying sound of Gina's sneakers trotting toward her.

* * *

"Don't you love that story?" Stephanie said to Michelle.

"You _temptress!"_Amelie said with mock indignation.

"I hate that story," Valerie grumped.

"But why?" Michelle said. "I think it's cute."

"It's cliche! It's a stereotype! 'We got together when we were roommates in college!' It might as well be porn..."

Stephanie suddenly reached over the table and pretended to be typing. "'Dear Penthouse Forum: I never thought I'd ever do anything like what I did today, but when I spotted my hot new roommate I just knew I had to try something bold...'"

Valerie made her stop by swatting her on the shoulder, which drew general laughter from her three companions. She just settled back in her chair and sipped her coffee. It was annoying. Stephanie and Amelie never wanted to hear the rest of the story, like even after that day she and Gina hadn't done anything even remotely romantic - much less lustful - for the first semester they lived together...and they hadn't waited for each other. Indeed, only the fact that they never brought any other girls into their dorm room was any indication that they were more than friends to each other. And in the intervening years since their first time together, they'd evolved more into "Old Marrieds" than any kind of "Nympho Dykes."

But Stephanie and Amelie didn't want to hear all that. They only cared about the more salacious bits of the history of the Gina/Valerie pairing. The usual doldrums and misfires that characterized any long-term relationship were apparently too boring.

Misfires like Gina putting her job ahead of her lover.

A cold look came over Valerie's face as she sipped._ Stupid bomb-sniffing robot..._

* * *

"Walk forward ten paces and stop," Gina said.

"By-your-command," Cy said, then he walked the required number of paces and came to attention. Gina watched his every step, as did motion sensors around the lower level.

"Still there," Dwayne called out, "but about two-thirds less pronounced."

"We've narrowed it down to the right line of code," Jenny said. "Give us ten to work on it."

Gina nodded at her, then thought of something. "Say...when did we program it to say 'By your command'?"

"We did that last night," Jenny said with a smile.

Dwayne shrugged. "We needed a placeholder in its verbal-response library. Until we know if we're selling it to the Army or the Marines we don't know if it will have to say 'Yes, Sir' or 'Aye Aye, Sir'."

"I get that, but isn't having it say 'By your command' a little...I don't know...on the nose?"

Lenny looked down at her and smirked. "It's a ten-foot-tall robot with a little red light for an eye that goes 'woo-woo, woo-woo' and you're worried that having it say 'By your command' is typing it?"

"And aren't you the one that calls it 'Cy', Gina?" Dwayne chimed in. "Might as well call a spade a spade, right?"

Jenny jumped in to lodge another of her favorite complaints. "I wish we could add more soundproofing to the head assembly."

Lenny shook his head. "It's a tight enough fit for the sensor suite as it is."

"Why do you need it, anyway?" Dwayne said.

"Well," Jenny said, "it's not exactly stealthy to have it walking around and going 'woo-woo' where everybody can hear it."

Gina shrugged and said, "Like Lenny says, it's a ten-foot-tall robot with a light for an eye that weighs three-quarters of a ton and will have Squad-Automatic-Weapons and grenade launchers as its principal armaments. I'm pretty sure stealth isn't going to be an issue."

"Tell that to the first one that gets taken out by a terrorist with an RPG." Jenny checked her monitor. "Okay, get him walking again."

Gina turned to Cy. "Left face, walk forward ten paces, left face, walk forward another five paces, then stop."

"By-your-command," Cy said as he turned and resumed walking.

Gina frowned. "Non-verbal responses until otherwise directed."

Cy raised his left hand to his electronic ear and tapped it twice, the hand signal for "Message received."

* * *

"And she really hasn't told you anything about what she's building?" Michelle asked.

"Gina, give away state secrets?" Valerie said. "Even to me? Heavens No! Then I might sell them to the Chinese or something."

"You mean she hasn't even told you during pillow talk?" Amelie said, getting back to priorities.

"Yeah, right...you see, how that works is we have to have enough time when she's home to actually talk in bed, as opposed to our activities of late which include her treating me like she's fucking a cat with a pencil and me listening to her buzzsaw-snore the rest of the night." That made the others giggle, to which Val replied: "Yeah...It's only funny till it happens to you."

"Well, I don't see what the big mystery is," Stephanie said. "It's obvious what she's doing."

"Oh please, enlighten us, Holmes," Val said. "What's she building?"

"Well, she's a robot expert working for an airplane company. Obviously, she's helping them build one of those UAV things that they use to shoot missiles at terrorists in the Middle East."

Val grinned. "Perfectly valid theory, oh wise one. Just a couple of flaws, starting with Gina knows everything about building robots but almost nothing about building airplanes so she wouldn't be lead engineer on a project to build anything with wings. Also, those robot planes that shoot terrorists are made by one of Searing's competitors. Searing's planes still require human pilots."

"Okay, but if what you say is true, why is an airplane company building a robot at all?"

Val shrugged. "I figure it's going to be used to look for bombs in airports or it's going to Mars."

"Well, obviously you've thought about it," Michelle said.

"Sure, but all the guessing in the world doesn't actually tell me what it is."

"Does it matter?" Amelie said. "I mean, would knowing what she's building do anything to help your relationship?

"It might. She's had this job almost as long as we've been together and every year she's able to tell me less and less about it. I miss hearing her come home to me and gush about 'what happened at work today.' Now I don't even know if she's actually working or just hiding a torrid affair with her research assistant."

"Well if it's the affair," Stephanie said, "get details."

"And pictures if necessary," Amelie said, seriously.

Val glared at them both. "Evil, evil women..." She scolded, making them laugh.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Michelle said, trying to be comforting. "You just have to tell yourself that whatever it is she's building, its ultimate purpose is to help people."

* * *

"Cy" shouldered the Squad Automatic Weapon and raised the barrel as he sighted in on the first target. When he was in position his red eye froze and locked on.

"Fire!" Gina called out.

The drum hopper inserted into the weapon was loaded with blanks and there was MILES training gear installed on the front of the barrel. When the robot pulled the trigger three rapid bangs echoed through the lab as the training gear fired three laser beams at a target sensor.

"Cease Fire! Stand Down!" Gina called out. The robot lowered the weapon and brought it in close to his body while angling the barrel toward the ground, just the way a soldier on the battlefield would stand at rest. When she saw that, Gina looked up at Dwayne.

"Two hits," he said. "Our adjustment was off. Give us a minute."

"Sure," Gina said. "Got all day."

"It'll only take a minute," Dwayne said with a chuckle. He was working with Jenny's team on the targeting software.

Gina paced as her people worked. Every now and then she glanced at Cy and wondered if anything went through his mind at times like this, where he stood stoically waiting for the next command.

"I think..." Jenny said, "...okay. We got it!"

Gina stopped pacing and turned to Cy. She called out, "Ready!" Cy hitched the stock up to his shoulder. "Aim!" Cy brought up the weapon. "Fire!" One more three-shot burst hit the target dead center.

"Hah! Nailed it!" Jenny said, highly pleased with herself.

Gina was satisfied but not impressed. "Good enough." She checked her watch. "Okay, people, let's get Cy up-armored and ready to walk out!"

* * *

Valerie's brunch lasted another hour or so, then broke up as the women went to run different errands. Valerie visited a small fashion boutique and a bakery before loading her purchases in the car and heading home.

She took a moment to admire their home as she pulled into the driveway. It was a modest two-bedroom, one bathroom dwelling on a quiet suburban street. It wasn't a mansion by any means, but she and Gina had spent their early years there fixing it up to look quaint and homey, a place to spend the rest of their lives together, and so far that's what they'd done. It had seemed like such a gift when they first bought it, Valerie tried not to think about the fact that Gina's signing bonus with Searing had paid for it._ It's not fair to have to give up a life with my lover in exchange for a nice little house,_Val thought.

She parked the car in the garage and entered the house through the door inside. This led to the kitchen, where she left the pastries she'd bought on the island before moving on through to the living room, where she paused to take in the sight of the least quaint thing in the house, Gina's 50-inch, high-definition, flat-screen Video Entertainment Center (calling it a mere "TV", Val had learned, was offensive to God and Man), bought for the sole purpose of spending her Sundays watching large, sweaty men slam into each other for control of a moderate-sized "pigskin." Valerie had once joked that Gina should just be honest with herself and start renting Gay porn DVDs, just to cut out the subtext.

Gina didn't speak to her for three days. All she could muster were exasperated grunts.

Valerie chuckled at the memory, then headed for the staircase and went upstairs. On the way to the master bedroom she paused to peek into the smaller room, which had been converted into Gina's home office. Valerie always took a moment to peek in because she was forbidden - "On pain of DEATH!" - from entering the room when Gina was working. It seemed a lot of fuss over a room with only a little desk and loveseat, a five-year-old laptop and a company-issued spare cellphone to boast its status as an office. Val always assumed the restriction had to do with the secrecy of Gina's work, but she couldn't help but be curious.

Maybe all Gina really did was watch Gay porn vids on the Internet without telling anybody.

Valerie gave up peeking and continued on to the bedroom they shared. She hung up her new clothes and stripped out of her Sunday suit until she was down to the lacy Victoria's Secret bra and panties she'd worn underneath. (They were also canary yellow, as Gina would have seen if she'd been willing to stay home.) Then Val pulled on a bathrobe and went back downstairs to begin another exciting day of waiting for Gina to call for a ride. She used to able to fill such days with activity, but lately she'd taken to sitting on the couch in front of the ridiculously expensive television and watching TV until she zonked out. Today she flopped down on the couch and lifted the remote to begin with a bracing round of channel-surfing. At one point she paused on the CBS affiliate and saw that it was showing the Seahawks game. She watched for a few minutes, as she often did, to try and figure out what Gina saw in the sport, then turned to the Oxygen network in the hope of catching a Xena mini-marathon. She was in luck. She had a special affinity for Xena, as did Gina, though the blonde would never admit it was anything more than a typical lesbian crush on a strong female character. Maybe, but Val could never shake the feeling of familiarity she experienced whenever she saw Lucy Lawless's face.

After watching the Warrior Princess beat up Najara and save Gabrielle, Valerie checked her watch and frowned. She hadn't heard from Gina since they parted ways this morning. She hesitated for a moment, because it would violate another "Gina-rule," but she decided the worst Gina could do would be to break up with her. With that cheery thought in mind, she went into the kitchen and picked up the house phone.

* * *

Gina's gaze was unwavering as the armor team completed up-armoring Cy. She'd watched from start to finish and the result made the robot look like a giant Marine in battle-dress-utilities and body armor. Only the grill face and Little Red Eye ruined the effect, but Gina didn't care. He didn't need to look like G. to do his job.

"Doctor Sexton!" A technician called down from the catwalk. "We got final confirmation from Tracking. The Chinese satellite will complete its pass and be over the horizon in ten minutes. That means we'll have a forty-six minute window for the test."

"All right," she called back. "Let the set-up team know I want them ready and waiting to go in five minutes and let's..." She was interrupted by the sound of the theme song to_ Home Improvement_coming from her pants pocket. She turned away from the technician, cursed under her breath and answered her cell phone. "Darling," she said in a mock patient tone, "We've had the conversation about you calling me at work when I'm busy..."

* * *

Valerie, pacing in their kitchen, replied, "I remember, and part of that conversation was that since you don't want me calling you, you're supposed to call me periodically so that I know you haven't been...killed in a nuclear accident or something!"

"I...am..._miles _away from the nearest nuclear facility, Val," Gina growled through her teeth. (Valerie could tell even over the phone.) "Why would you think that?"

"Well how would I know what kind of secret technology you've got in that evil science lab of yours? Anyway, the point is you're supposed to let me know you're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay! I'm standing here talking to you when I should be working, so don't call me again! I will call you when I'm ready to come home!"

"But..." Valerie started, but she heard the fake click of Gina's cell closing the connection. She stared at the receiver in disbelief for a few seconds, then muttered, "And then she hung up on me, and left me standing there like a fool and feeling like she kicked me in the gut." She hung up the receiver, picked it back up and dialed another number, muttering, "And that's why I stabbed her in the chest twenty times when we got home, officer..."

* * *

Gina tucked the phone back in her pocket and looked back up at the technician. "Let Yates know we're in countdown. Tell him if he wants to see the action live he better hustle down here."

"On it, boss!"

Suddenly Brittany was standing behind her with a mug of coffee. Gina seized it and downed about half of it. "Everything okay at home?" Brittany asked, still with that smile.

"Val's just restless," Gina said when she lowered the mug. "Can't say I blame her. What's up?"

The assistant was also holding a clipboard full of documents which she held up for Gina to see. "Signature time. A couple of these have to be sent out today."

"Oh." Gina found a pen in one of her pockets and took it out while Brittany held the clipboard so she could sign. The assistant told her about each document as she signed it.

"First are the Miscellaneous Expense reports. That one's the Written Progress Report to the Board. Those are the leave authorizations you wanted to handle all at once. This is the memo to the Modeling and Molds section. And last is the Department Employee of the Month Nomination form."

Gina looked up at that. "Who'd I nominate?"

Brittany grinned. "Me, of course!"

Gina grinned back. "Of course," she said before signing the paper. Then she powered down the rest of the coffee and handed the mug back to Brittany. With the paperwork done she turned her attention back to her creation.

Brittany lingered for a moment. "If I were Valerie I'd wait patiently for you..." she muttered.

That made Gina turn again, though she hadn't quite heard. "Did you want something else, Brittany?"

Brittany grinned wide and forced herself to_ absolutely not_ say the first thing that came to her. "No...I mean, I said I'll go take care of these." She turned and walked off in as dignified a manner as she could manage.

Gina just stared after for a few seconds, then shrugged and went back to work.

* * *

"Well, it sounds like she's being a real dick," Theresa Ochoa-Markowitz said over the phone, "which is oh-so ironic..."

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Big Sister, I do remember that you find my being a lesbian endlessly amusing, but now could you help me with my problem?"

"Oh, no, Val. This isn't anything I can help you with. Gina thinks her job is more important than you. It's up to you to make her think otherwise."

"I don't know Terry...she may be right. Her job may be more important."

"Says who?"

"Says the Defense Department, The Pentagon, Searing Aerospace..."

"Oh, pish and tosh!"

"Both of them, huh?"

"Gina's work is probably no more important than the thousands of other secret projects the government wastes billions of taxpayer dollars on. It certainly couldn't be more important than spending time with the love of her life."

"You think so?"

"I know so. I'm sure right now Gina's not doing anything more Earth-shattering than teaching a giant roller-skate with a computer brain how to roll around on Mars."

* * *

Gina led Cy out of the main hangar doors while around them technicians rushed to set up cameras and a bulletproof observation bunker outside. She watched the preparations sparingly, always keeping an eye on her watch. They had a small window of time to run this exercise without observation from space. Miss it, and the next opportunity would be in a week.

"We're good to go!" A technician called out, then the bulk of them ran back into the hangar while Dwayne, Jenny and Lenny trotted out and hunkered down behind the bunker.

"I wish she wouldn't insist on observing the exercise first-hand," Lenny grumped. "This 'duck-blind' stuff is no good for my heart."

"Or my blood-pressure..." Jenny chimed in.

"What's with you two?" Dwayne asked. "We've observed live-fire drills before."

"Yeah," Lenny said, "but this is the first one where the targets get to shoot back, and I'd like not to be caught in the crossfire."

"Well, if Cy does his job it won't matter. You saying you don't trust him?"

"We're saying we don't want to be on the battlefield if we're wrong about trusting him," Jenny said.

Meanwhile, Gina faced Cy and briefed him. "This is a live-fire combat exercise. Your task is to defend this airfield from hostile forces until friendly forces arrive to relieve you. Your relief will arrive in Humvees from the North end of the field. The enemy will attack on foot and in improvised combat vehicles from multiple directions. Confirm command." Then she remembered. "You may speak."

"Defend-airfield-until-relief arrives. By-your-command."

Gina sighed and patted the machine's shoulder before trotting off to the makeshift bunker herself. "They got things set up in good time," she said to her colleagues.

"They're just eager to play with all the remote controlled stuff," Jenny smirked.

"Speaking of..." Gina switched on her headset and clicked the mike. "Guys, Cy's in place. Execute now."

* * *

Back in the lab, two of Jenny's technicians began working mouse and touchscreen controls, giggling boyishly at all the destruction they were about to unleash.

* * *

It started with two small, tracked robots mounting AK-47 automatic rifles and cardboard cutouts of insurgents. They sped onto the field from behind other hangars and tried to flank Cy. He wasn't fooled. He was, however, armed with his standard Squad Automatic Weapon, with the MILES gear removed and live rounds in its hopper. He brought the weapon to bear and turned the little robots' weapons mounts into metal shavings one at a time.

Of course that wasn't the end. Three more AK-armed rovers sprang from various hiding places and rolled toward Cy. A second later, an improvised combat vehicle, or "technical" darted out of a hiding place and roared down the flightline. Essentially an old Ford pickup with a Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a swivel mount secured to the flatbed, the invaders' idea of heavy artillery was a priority target, so Cy crouched and evaded fire from the drones and got into position to use his weapon against the truck. A second later, 5.56 mm rounds streamed into the truck's grill, causing it to swerve just as the Browning tried to stream 7.62 mm rounds into the robot. Cy took some hits, but dodged the worst of it and turned his attention to the drones closing in on him. He dispatched them in short order. Before he could get back to his post the technical tried shooting at him again. This time he sprayed the weapon mount, disabling it.

He'd barely got back to a watchful stance before another technical was barreling toward him from the south end of the field. This one was mounting a "Dual 50" - two Browning M2s - and was flanked by two more AK armed drones. Cy dove to the ground before all the weapons opened fire and from the prone position used most of his remaining ammunition on the truck until it stopped moving and stopped firing. He then took out the drones with precise, aimed fire.

Part of Cy's armor package was a backpack mount with reloads and other useful supplies. Cy cleared the near-empty ammo drum from his SAW and reached behind him for a full one. By the time he was done reloading another vehicle appeared. It was a HMMWV, and it was approaching him from the North, just as Dr. Sexton had informed him.

Just then, another part of his memory reminded him of other things Dr. Sexton had told him, such as sometimes intelligence can be wrong, or used by the enemy as a way to get close, so Cy brought his weapon up anyway, and his Little Red Eye rocketed back and forth in his face as he examined the vehicle thoroughly. It had US Army markings, mounted the standard armor package, and the figures inside were wearing "Fritz" helmets and forest camouflage utilities. The passenger was sporting an older version of the M16 rifle.

Cy brought his weapon to bear and fired short bursts into the driver and passenger before disabling the vehicle with a long burst, then watched the wreck for any one who might have survived. After a few moments two more Humvees approached from the North. Cy brought up his weapon again and began scanning. As he did so his communications array picked up on a secure channel: "Sentry One, Greentwig Two, Authenticate: 553DeltaEcho72. Stand down and prepare for relief."

The codenames were in his updated files, as was the authentication number, and his scans of the vehicles turned up nothing amiss, so Cy felt confident that these were the people sent to take over for him. He acknowledged by saying: "Greentwig-Two, Sentry-One, Affirmative, Standing-Down." He lowered his weapon but continued to watch closely. Enemy countermeasures could be better than he expected.

The Humvees dodged the wreck of the one Cy destroyed and drove right up to him. Four men in US Army gear got out. The leader, a Staff Sergeant, walked up to Cy and said, "We're with Third Infantry. Our orders are to secure this airfield and allow you to fall back to HQ." To his credit, the veteran soldier didn't think about the fact that he was delivering this line to a huge robot with a face like the bad guys from an old sci-fi show.

Cy was unfazed. "I-stand-relieved-Staff-Sergeant," was his only response, after which he turned toward the observation bunkers and walked toward the one where Gina was hiding. She stood as he approached and met him halfway.

"One question," she said. "Why did you destroy the first Humvee? You didn't give the occupants a chance to identify themselves."

"One-of-the-occupants-was-carrying-a-weapon-type-that-has-been-discontinued-in-the-United-States-Military. It-was-possible-that-it-was-an-insurgent-with-access-to-older-weapons-who-had-commandeered-a-newer-vehicle."

Gina suddenly grinned, cheering herself for creating an automaton that could examine and think as well as aim and shoot. "Outstanding! Okay, exercise over." She keyed her headset mike. "Okay, let's get the cleanup crews out here and let's get the after-action report going." The cleanup crews used the same equipment available to clear crashed jets off of runways. By the time the next satellite orbited over the site, there'd be nothing to see but an empty airfield.

Gina walked back into the lab with Cy and found Daryl Yates, the Program Manager, waiting for her. Yates was a pugnacious, salt-and-pepper haired man whose Brooklyn-cabbie demeanor belied his engineering expertise. When he spotted Gina he offered a half-smile and a half-hearted smattering of applause. "Very nice," he said, "very nice. Looks like you've almost got a winner on your hands."

"Almost?" Gina said. "Come on, Daryl! That was a pitch-perfect defense of a fixed point!"

"I just wanna make sure that none of our clients end up like those two crash test dummies in the remote Humvee out there. He didn't even wait for authentication."

"He didn't have to. He saw what we wanted him to see and determined that the targets were suspicious and acted accordingly. That's what we want. This project is for naught if it doesn't produce a combat system that can make decisions for itself in the field."

"And if it decides to off a guy just because a supply goof means he's carrying the wrong weapon into the field...?"

"We can have it interrogate every single target by radio and wait for confirmation but that takes time even Cy's CPU might not have in the midst of a combat situation. The system works, okay? Yes, there are some glitches we have to deal with but target recognition isn't one of them."

"Okay, Gina, I trust you. Let's just get this done, ASAP. If the schedule slips one more time we're gonna end up in some Senate chamber listening to the Honorable Senator Jerkoff and the Right Honorable Senator Asswipe tell us how we should build a robot!"

Gina grinned. It was Daryl's favorite off-color warning. "On it, Boss. We're taking up the slack."

"Outstanding...now, tell me what you're doing about the sensor mount."

Gina's smile melted. "Well, here's the problem..."

* * *

With the Xena-thon over and nothing else interesting on TV, Valerie sighed and decided to dive into her and Gina's mutual DVD collection. She mulled over and discarded choices as she skimmed over the titles. _Not that one, no, watched that yesterday..._ She paused when she came to a silver box and pulled it out of the rack. Galactica? She mulled it over as she stared at the shiny Cylon face on the front of the Battlestar Galactica complete-series box set. Ultimately she shrugged and put it aside. Maybe later. Back to the rack._ No...no...ohhhh..._

Another box set, this time the season six set of_ Desperate Housewives._ She grinned as she pulled it out. _Perfect._ She went back over to the big TV and giggled as she pulled out the proper DVDs and slid one into the machine. Then she trotted back to the couch and settled in to watch The Katherine/Robin saga from the beginning...

* * *

There's a penalty to powerchugging coffee all day. Gina reminded herself of it for the millionth time as she raced into the bathroom and slammed into a stall. She almost lost control before she got her pants down. She sighed in relief when she could finally sit down and do her business, then chuckled a little as she thought - also for the millionth time -_ I've gotta cut back on the coffee..._

Halfway through her cellphone rang again. This time the tone was the theme from_ Hawaii 5-0,_ which meant it was Valerie calling from her cell. Gina sighed again and pulled it out to answer it. "Hey, sweetheart..."

"I'm sorry..." Valerie said, a breathless quality in her voice.

Gina found that odd. "You okay? You sound winded."

A chuckle. "I am. I've been watching TV..." Breathless and playful now.

"It must be something very entertaining..."

"Oh, it is. Desperate Housewives."

Gina suddenly perked up. "Katherine and Robin?"

"I want to show you something," Valerie said. A moment later a tone sounded on Gina's phone that announced an incoming image. Gina moved the phone where she could see the screen and called it up.

Her eyes went wide.

The fun part about having a smartphone is the large screen that shows everything in vivid color and detail. She'd viewed many a photo on this screen, from cold steel robotic equipment to beautiful natural landscapes. What she was looking at now could be considered a beautiful natural landscape...the kind referred to in Hollywood as a "crotch shot."

It was, of course, Valerie's crotch, barely covered by the gusset of a pair of frilly, canary yellow panties - crumpled,_ glistening wet_ canary yellow panties.

"I was watching," Valerie said, "and I was remembering when we went to the costume party dressed as them...you were a sexy "Robin"...I thought about when we snuck off together and did it in the bathroom, and then left early. Remember when we got home? We were all over each other. We went everywhere with all that touching. I loved it. I loved thinking about it_ sooo_ much I just had to touch myself. I went a little overboard." A giggle. "I think I squirted some..."

"Just might have..." Gina managed. She was having trouble concentrating.

In the sexiest voice she could manage, Valerie said, "Hurry up and finish your work, baby, then come home." The call ended with a soft click.

Gina just sat there for a moment, staring at the picture and thinking, _Damn job! Damn contract! Damn everything that keeps me away from THAT!_ She bit her lip, remembering everything Valerie had talked about. Their roleplay as Katherine and Robin had been excruciatingly sexy, and Gina's memories of the event were crystal clear, as were all of her memories of sex with Valerie, all of them tributes to The First Time, when they'd first given in to their feelings. That was the first time she'd seen Valerie's pussy, the first time she'd touched it, kissed it, _tasted it_...a soft moan escaped her throat as her hand slid almost on its own across her thigh and toward her own sex...

A knock on the stall door broke the spell. "Boss?" Brittany called in. "Gonna be done soon?"

Gina rolled her eyes. "The other stalls are_ empty,_ Brittany..."

Brittany giggled. "No, not that! The pizzas just got here and the others wanted to know how long you'll be. We wanted to wait for you, but if you're going to be a while..."

"No, no...I'll be out in a minute. Let me just get cleaned up."

"Okay!"

Gina waited until she heard the outer door open and close, then sighed one more time and saved and closed the picture.

Minutes later she was freshened up and walking into the small conference room of the lab, where the major and minor engineers on the project were all sitting or standing around the conference table. They were all contemplating four pizza pies delivered from the commissary. They ranged in topping from extra cheese to The Works.

Gina grabbed a slice of the sausage and pepperoni and sat in the chair set aside for her, then she waited while everyone else got a slice. She spent the few moments contemplating the cheesy wedge in her hand, thought briefly about the triangle she could be eating now, then reluctantly got back to business. "Phil, let's talk about the scanning sub-routine for the optical sensor software..."

* * *

Valerie was standing naked somewhere. She wasn't at all sure where. It was a dark, smoky corridor. There were strip lights on the walls pulsing with an eerie red glow. She barely had a moment to get her bearings when the scene changed. Though still naked, now she was standing in a lush garden with roses and other red, red flowers.

Suddenly Gina was standing in front of her, wearing a tight red dress, red lipstick and shorter-than-normal hair in a Marilyn Monroe do. She was smiling cheerfully as she swept her hand like a model. Valerie's gaze followed the hand and took in the verdant scene. She smiled at the sight, but recoiled in horror as she felt a slashing pain across her shoulder. She turned back to Gina, only to find her laughing maniacally as she held up a knife dripping with Valerie's blood...

Valerie woke with a start in her own bed in her own bedroom. The weird hall and the garden were gone, and there was no Gina, but the voice of Billy Joel singing _She's Always A Woman To Me_ indicated she'd be seeing her love soon. The final verse was her ringtone for Gina's cell.

She grabbed her cell just after the line "But she'll bring out the best and the worst you can be..." and quickly checked the time before answering. _Really, Gina?_ It was 11:43 PM. "Hello?" Valerie said sleepily.

"Are you still coming to pick me up?" It was Gina, sounding almost submissive. She must have had a hard day.

"Of course," Valerie said. "Just let me wake up and get dressed. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you," Gina said.

Valerie sat up on the side of the bed, then slapped herself a couple of times to wake up. Soon she was dressed in sweats, sneakers and a ponytail of her own. Thus prepared, she set out on the long drive back to the Ghost Works.

Traffic was agreeably light. There were actually times when it seemed like Valerie's was the only car on the road. Getting through the security gate wasn't anywhere near as much fun at this time of night. The guards on this shift rarely talked and never flirted. Val couldn't even appreciate the pink admittance sticker because it was too dark to make out the color.

She approached the Admin building. She could see Gina sitting on the curb in front, legs half splayed, chin-resting-on-hand, just looking for all the world like an exhausted supermodel. It made Valerie smile as she pulled the car up alongside.

Gina looked up tiredly as Valerie reached over and opened the passenger door. When they finally saw each other again they just stared for a few moments, then Gina said, "Still girlfriends?"

Valerie shrugged. "Got no choice. All the other Lanky Blond Lesbians are taken. I checked."

Gina smiled, then half-rose before climbing into the passenger seat. It took effort for her to settle in and fasten her seatbelt. Valerie didn't say anything. She knew a stressful intellectual job could be just as tiring as a physical one. Gina could barely stay awake during the exit security check. She was snoring by the time they were on the highway.

At home Valerie had to fight Gina just to get her out of the car. "Leave me here!" Gina whined. "I have to take the car tomorrow anyway! It's just easier!"

"Tomorrow is in a few hours," Valerie said, "and you'll feel better if you spend them in a bed. Come on!"

Valerie finally dragged Gina to her feet and into the house. She managed to stay mostly upright until they got into the bedroom, then Valerie had to rush to get her to the bed. She almost fell all the way, but Val held her in a sitting position. "We have to get these clothes off."

"Okay...but I'm gonna have performance issues..." Gina said.

Valerie chuckled. "So you can_ sleep._ We'll deal with your performance later." The vest and blouse came off easily enough. Taking off Gina's bra reminded Valerie of a night at a frat party they'd both attended. She had to push Gina back so she could tug off the shoes and slacks, then almost couldn't get Gina to sit back up so she could slip on the Seahawks jersey.

"Your turn..." Gina suddenly announced. She reached out and tugged down Valerie's sweatpants. She looked horrified at what she saw. "You're not wearing them!"

"Wearing what?"

"Those beautiful yellow panties..." In their place were skintight but less sexy boyleg Hanes-Her-Ways.

Valerie giggled and blushed. "Gina! I wrecked those! They're soaking." With that, Val loosened Gina's hair and laid her down properly. "Go to sleep," she said while she tucked Gina in.

"Okay..." Gina's voice had a dreamy quality to it. She'd be out of it again soon.

Valerie stepped out of her sneakers and sweatpants and went over to her side of the bed, then she stripped off her sweatshirt and loosened her own hair. She climbed in wearing nothing but the Hanes underwear. She sat up for a little while just so she could watch Gina sleep. After a while she drew her knees to her chest and sighed, a wave of sadness hitting her.

_I don't know what we're going to do,_ she thought, then she whispered, "You mean everything in the world to me."

She was surprised when Gina sleep-whispered back: "All this has happened before...and all this will happen again..."

Valerie shook her head. "No, I don't think we've ever been this distant." A smirk. "Or were you thinking of something else?"

No answer this time. Gina was snoring again.

**TBC...**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** _Battlestar Galactica and all related characters are the property of Universal Pictures and Syfy Channel and based on the series created by Glen A. Larson. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

* * *

Gina was awakened the next morning by the usual alarm tone, this time an hour earlier. She sat all the way up on the side of the bed before turning it off, then sighed as she checked the time. She hadn't slept very long at all, and she felt it. She turned to look at Valerie. Once again, her girlfriend had managed to sleep through the alarm, through some mechanism she had yet to understand.

When a nasty little voice in her head commented, _If you understood it, the alarm would be useless to you, _Gina grunted sourly and headed into the bathroom.

No primping today. A quick shower and some brushed teeth later she was back in the bedroom. She slipped on some of her own sensible undies, leggings, an old Aggies sweatshirt and sneakers. She brushed out her hair just enough to make her ponytail presentable. With that, she was prepared for another long day in the salt mines.

Before she left she snuck over to Valerie's side of the bed and tried to plant a quiet kiss on her cheek without waking her up. She bent down slowly and quietly cheered when her lips made soft contact with Val's cheek. Val stirred a little but stayed asleep. _I love you, sweetheart, _Gina thought.

She was on the road a short time later, sharing the streets and highway with other early birds. It was lonely, but not just because of the reduced traffic. Even bickering with Valerie was preferable to the gnawing quiet when she drove herself. It gave her too much time to think, to let the problems she'd been having with her project turn over again and again in her head.

The nasty little voice disagreed. _Valerie's a distraction. Love her, but devote your attention to this creation._

Creation? For all its bells and whistles and noble purpose Cy was just a robot, a mechanical servant. Was it really worth losing her connection with her partner for sixteen years just to complete it?

The nasty little voice wouldn't back down. _Finish it and see._

"Easy for you to say..." Gina muttered.

At the Ghost Works she barely paid attention during the external security checks. In the Admin building she was getting scanned as other project scientists started to file in. She waited for Dwayne, Lenny and Jenny to go through before heading with them to the parking level. Gina wasn't surprised to see Brittany standing next to a running golf cart, but she was yawning. Apparently, even the most youthful exuberance couldn't be maintained in every circumstance. The carts only seated four, so Dwayne gallantly offered his lap to Jenny, who graciously accepted.

"You never offer me your lap..." Lenny muttered.

"Um, she's prettier and she smells better," Dwayne shot back.

"If you two don't stop," Gina said from the "shotgun" seat, "we're turning right around and going home." Jenny and Brittany both giggled as Brittany drove them all to the lab.

Gina and the others put on lab coats and made small talk while they waited for the entire team to get in and get settled. This was actually the hardest part of the day for Gina. Nothing was getting accomplished, but nothing significant could be accomplished in the intervening time anyway, so it didn't really matter. Thoughts like that made her head hurt.

Finally, everybody was in and ready to work. They gathered in the conference room, where Brittany had magically produced two large carafes of hot coffee. The assistant poured Gina the first mug, and Gina downed it in a few gulps, savoring the heat and the bitter taste and welcoming the jolt of caffeine. While the others poured coffee and sat down, Gina officially started the day.

"Okay, everybody...Old business."

* * *

Valerie's alarm woke her an hour after Gina's. Her alarm tone was much more pleasant than the one Gina used, and she'd been after her girlfriend for months now to change hers to something more palatable. Gina always told her that she didn't know how an alarm was supposed to work, to which Valerie always responded that an alarm was supposed to wake you up, not fuck with your mind. It was a conversation they both tried not to have too often.

Valerie had to primp for work. Unlike Gina, she wasn't the boss and she often had to lead presentations for prospective and current clients, so just throwing something on any given day was not an option. For her, the daily dress code required colorful, fashionable separates, and today she would top those off with her new red-soled pumps (authentic ones that devoured a large chunk of one of her paychecks). She took as much time as she could to brush out and style her hair and was just finishing up when she heard a car horn honking outside. Her carpool had arrived.

Valerie trotted out of the house to find Amelie's four-door silver Audi parked out front. Amelie honked the horn another couple of times just to wind Valerie up. Val just rolled her eyes. It wasn't like they were going to be late. They had enough time to pick up two more people and then stop for breakfast at SBC before heading in, which was their normal daily routine.

Stephanie was already sitting shotgun, so Valerie climbed in the back, where she'd have the seat to herself until the next carpooler was picked up. "Hey, ladies," she said as she buckled up. "Anything interesting happening this morning?"

Both women turned back to look at her. "That depends," Amelie said, "on what you and Gina got up to last night." They both had evil grins on their faces.

Valerie smiled back. "I don't know about Gina, but I got up to maybe four hours of sleep last night. Four-and-a-half if you count before I went to pick her up."

Amelie and Stephanie stopped smiling, then Amelie turned around and pulled off. "See...now you're not even trying..." Stephanie grumped before she turned.

Valerie bristled at that. _Of course I'm trying! I'm just not succeeding..._

* * *

Homecoming for both of them was different as well. After a normal work day and stopping for drinks with Amelie and Stephanie, Valerie reached home a little after 8 PM. She stripped out of her work clothes and pulled on a pair of jogging shorts and a cotton t-shirt, then headed to the kitchen to search for leftovers to eat. There were plenty. She always made dinner for two, but lately, of course, Gina had been eating elsewhere. She found some edible-looking meatless lasagna in a Tupperware container and microwaved it, then took the hot food into the living room and settled in for some primetime cable shows, most of which involved pawn shops, storage auctions or "housewives" from places that she cared little about.

The programs were just hypnotic enough to keep her awake but not paying attention, so it was after midnight before she realized it. She'd been broken out of her trance by the sound of the door from the garage opening. She got up and trotted into the kitchen and found Gina walking in. They just stared at each other for a moment, then Valerie just put on her biggest, friendliest smile. _I'm just glad you're home, sweetheart. I'm not concerned at all that you look like ten miles of fucked-up road. Really, I'm not. _She held out her hand. Gina smiled and walked over to her, took the hand and gently squeezed it. Valerie tried not to cry when Gina lifted the hand and gave all the fingers little kisses.

They walked up to their bedroom hand-in-hand. Tonight would be another night without passion, but they did at least have a proper goodnight kiss after they got into bed. Once again, Gina fell asleep almost immediately. Worry kept Valerie up longer, but she eventually succumbed to fatigue.

Tomorrow would be another day...

* * *

"Tomorrow" unfolded much as the previous day, as did the rest of the week, with the only difference being Gina came home looking more tired each successive night. The weekend really brought the problem home for Valerie. Now that she was driving Gina back and forth, she could clearly see the toll the project was taking. Gina wouldn't talk at all. Val couldn't even get a good argument going. Gina was lost in her work, oblivious to the world around her. _Oblivious to ME, _Valerie thought. She was losing her lover to a machine, and the real hell of it was that she didn't even know what the machine was.

In the wee hours of Monday morning, after Gina had gone to sleep, Valerie cried. She tried her best to keep the sobs quiet, but she felt so angry and lonely and - she was ashamed to admit - _jealous _at that moment that she couldn't help herself. She was feeling despair because there didn't seem to be any way to fix the problem.

"But that's not true, is it?" She whispered. "There's always a way if you want to find it. There _must _be some kind of way out of this..."

She decided to stay up a while longer to think about it.

* * *

Morning came. Gina woke to her hated alarm. She sat up and turned it off and rubbed her eyes and wished she were in Hawaii with Valerie. On vacation, all expenses paid. _Oh, and while I'm dreaming, I'd like a pony with cutie mark shaped like a strawberry..._

She sighed at her wishful thinking and turned to get a glimpse of Val with sleepy eyes before heading into the bathroom. What she saw woke her up completely.

Valerie wasn't in bed.

Now, admittedly, Gina tended to panic when she didn't know with certainty where Valerie was, so in moments like this her mind went through all the most dire possibilities before reaching the most innocuous (and most likely) conclusions, like "She's in the bathroom" or "She's in the kitchen," so it took more than a few seconds for her to just face forward and look straight ahead...where she found Valerie, fully awake and standing between her and the bathroom.

Panic had given way to relief, then curiosity stepped in. "Hi, sweetie," Gina said. "I'm sorry...did my alarm wake you?" That would be a first, but it would make sense.

Valerie crossed her arms and took a step closer. Now Gina could see she was dressed in leggings and a hoodie, which was weird this early on a Monday. She usually worked out on Wednesdays.

"No," Valerie said, "You didn't wake me. I've been up for a while now."

"O-kaaay," Gina said. "Did you have trouble sleeping?"

Valerie bent low so she could look Gina in the eye and stated her purpose point blank. "I'm up because you're not going to work today."

Gina's mouth curled up a little. "Yes, I am, Val. What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what you're going to do today, which is spend the whole day with me, so you're not going to work today."

Suddenly Gina realized where this was going and rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this," she muttered as she started to rise...then she was shocked as Val's hands landed on her shoulders and shoved her back down to the bed.

_"What is wrong with you?" _Valerie yelled in her face. "Is this what you think about my feelings?" She closed her eyes and calmed down. "I know that your bosses want a lot from you, but I want a lot from you too, and today what I want from you is to not devote all your energy to your job for one single day..." She opened her eyes and set herself to resist any argument. "...so you are Not. Going. To Work Today."

Gina could see the resolve on Valerie's face. It was a little frightening, so she tried to be reasonable. "Val, I know how you feel..."

"No you _don't_, Gina! You have no idea what it feels like to watch your best girlfriend come home every night exhausted because some nameless, thankless job is sapping her strength! You have no idea what it feels like to wonder when she'll drop dead from overwork, or when she'll snap from the stress and do something violent! But I do, Gina! I've been living that suspense story for months now, and I'm tired of it!"

Gina hesitated, then turned to reach for her phone. "Okay...let me just call and say I'll be in late and then we can..."

Valerie huffed and snatched the phone before Gina could grasp it. "Honestly," she muttered, "with all those brains you can be so _blond _sometimes!"

Gina bristled. That was one of Mama Sexton's favorite putdowns.

Valerie didn't care. She was dialing a number. She started pacing while she waited for an answer. When someone came on, she turned super-concerned. "Hello? I'm calling for Doctor Gina Sexton! She can't come to work! She's _sooo_ sick! I think she got food poisoning from something she ate last night! She's been throwing up all morning!"

She turned to Gina, who was looking at her like she was insane. Without missing a beat, Valerie wound up and slammed her fist into Gina's midsection. "HUAAAGH!" Gina moaned as she doubled over in pain.

"Oh, poor baby!" Valerie said into the phone. "Here, let me hold your hair! I can't let her leave like this! Could you please tell her supervisor for me? Great! Thank you so much!" She hung up. Performance over, she looked down at Gina triumphantly.

Gina was glaring back up at her. "What is your fucking _issue_, Valerie?"

"You're starting to worry me, Gina," Valerie said. "You've never been this slow on the uptake before. I've been _telling _you my 'issue' for the past ten minutes!"

Gina winced. "How do you hit so hard with those pipe cleaners you call arms?"

"Lots of pent up energy. I can think of better ways to burn it off but they all require more than token attention from you!"

"Jesus, Val...look, give me that!" She reached up to snatch the phone, but Valerie stepped out of reach and opened her hoodie a little so she could drop the phone down the front. Then she put her hands on her hips and smiled.

"Come and get it, bitch."

"You know you can't hold that big old phone with them tiny titties of yours," Gina hissed through her teeth.

Valerie's smile melted for a second, then came back a sneer. "That's right. I have tiny titties." She suddenly whipped her hoodie open. "But as you can see, the elastic in my sports bra is holding the phone just fine." She leaned forward and got in Gina's face. "And that's where it's going to stay until_ I_ decide you get have contacts on the outside, blondie! Now you lie back down and go back to sleep and get a decent rest! And when you wake up the only place you're allowed to go is down to the kitchen where I will make you a decent meal. And if you clean your plate like a good girlfriend, maybe I'll consider giving you your phone back. Nod if you understand what I've just told you."

Gina didn't see an alternative. She nodded.

Valerie smiled again. "Good girl. Beddie-bye now."

"I hate when you control me like this," Gina whined as she lay back down.

"I know, dear," Valerie said. "Most control freaks hate a taste of their own medicine." She kissed Gina on the cheek and tucked her in. "Nightie-night."

"Nightie-night," Gina whispered back, thinking, _Don't get too cocky, darling..._before she went back to sleep.

* * *

She was awakened again by bright sunlight streaming through the windows, something that hadn't happened in ages. She reached out to grab her cell phone and see what time it was, then remembered that her Evil Girlfriend was holding the device hostage in her bra. She grunted in pain as she sat up. The area where Val hit her was still sore. The sensation strengthened her resolve. She shot up and headed for the bathroom, where she was pleased to discover the hit didn't leave her pissing blood. When she came out she pulled on some leggings and put her hair in a tail. Time to go to work.

As she crossed from the bedroom to her home office, she remembered Val's admonition for her to go to the kitchen immediately upon waking. _Screw that, babe,_ she thought. _It's not my fault you didn't think of everything. _She slammed the door closed behind her and sat at her desk, opened the laptop and tapped the trackpad. She turned away for moment to find the thumb drive with Cy's updated schematics on it. When she turned back...

...the computer was still dead.

She tapped the trackpad again. She hit enter. She hit the power switch, which shouldn't have been necessary since she never turned the thing off. Nothing happened. She looked around it. Okay, Val unplugged it, but that shouldn't have mattered because...

Suddenly it hit her. She lifted the thing up and looked under. When she saw what happened, the scream came unbidden:

_"VALERIIIIIEEEEEE!"_

* * *

Most people would at least be startled to hear a significant other scream their names that way, but Valerie was expecting it, so she sat at the island in the kitchen checking her nails and waiting for Gina to come charging downstairs. When she heard heavy footsteps tramping rapidly down the staircase, she turned to the door and smiled.

Gina wasn't smiling when she appeared in the doorway. Her face had actually discovered a new version of "extremely pissed." Valerie smiled wider. "Good Afternoon," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Where the hell is the power pack to my computer?" Gina said angrily.

Valerie shook her head. "No no, Gina, you can't ask that question, because asking it means that you didn't do as I asked and come right down."

"Val, I went to the bathroom first...and, okay, I stopped in my office because I have to check in with my people! You're being insane! Can't we just...?" Her voice trailed off because that's when she noticed the three pieces of luggage sitting on the floor near where Valerie was sitting, a rolling suitcase, a duffel bag and a carry-on tote bag. "Valerie...what are those doing out?" No response. "Valerie, answer me." Still no response. "They're not...they're not packed, are they? Come on, Val, you're not really going to leave me over this, are you?"

Valerie made her wait a couple of beats before asking, "Have I got your attention _now_, Darling? Good, because I have a choice to make, and the choice I make will be based entirely on the choice you make in the next few minutes." Her cell phone was sitting on the countertop in front of her. She picked it up, scrolled down a list on the screen and held her thumb poised over something. Then she turned back to Gina.

"Here are your options: You may choose to sit at this island across from me and wait patiently for me to cook something for us to eat together, at which point I will choose to cook the meal and serve it. _Or_, you may choose to continue to put your job ahead of our relationship and your health, at which point I will choose to press my thumb down on this phone and call my sister, and when she answers I will say two words: 'I'm leaving.' Then, Theresa will fire up the Mom Wagon, drive all the way out here and pick up me and my luggage...and then I am _GONE_, Gina. After that you can kill yourself doing your job all you like. I just refuse to be here to watch." Her eyes narrowed. "Make your choice."

For the longest time Gina could only stare in amazement. She knew Valerie was upset, but hadn't realized she was upset enough to engineer this kind of blackmail. And blackmail it was, because over the years Gina had made various lists of things she might live a long time without, things both mundane and vastly important, yet there was always one thing - one person - that never made any of those lists.

That made the choice an easy one. Gina walked over to the island and sat down on a stool opposite Valerie's, then she folded her hands on the countertop and offered Val her most loving smile, and with the most sincere voice she could manage, she said, "Thank you for setting me straight, Sweetheart, and thank you so much for making me go back to sleep so I can get some more rest. I feel much better now, but I am a little hungry. If it's all right with you, could we please have something to eat?"

Valerie didn't say anything at first. Her eyes narrowed a little more, as if she suspected a trick, but her thumb moved fractionally away from the phone, and she asked, "What would you like?"

Big smile, more teeth as Gina asked, "Is it too late for breakfast?"

More scrutiny from Valerie, but soon she slowly got up from her stool and carried her phone over to the side counter and laid it by the coffee maker. After that, she started to gather things that she needed to make Gina's favorite breakfast. She was cooking in a few minutes. Every now and then she would glance behind her, as if to make sure Gina wasn't making any sudden moves. (Actually, Gina was thinking of grabbing Val's phone and running, but a glance at the bags nearby kept her on her seat.)

Ten minutes later Valerie laid two dishes with turkey bacon, scrambled egg whites and multigrain toast with margarine on the island countertop, one in front of Gina and one in front of her seat. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and a glass of grapefruit juice for Gina, then she sat down. Gina was starving, but she forced herself to wait for Valerie, who decided to drag it out just a little longer. She crossed herself and started a silent prayer over her food. Gina followed suit, going through the motions until she heard Valerie say "Amen."

They ate in silence, concentrating on their food and only looking up at each other every once in a while. Gina thought the meal was okay, but Valerie wasn't as good a cook as the chefs in the commissary at work. Of course, she wouldn't dare say that out loud. Not today. No, she merely ate and half-watched Valerie, waiting for an opening.

When they were finished eating Valerie took the dishes and put them in the sink, then grabbed their favorite mugs and filled them with coffee she had brewed earlier. She brought the mugs back to the island and set them down, then she sat down. When she was settled in she pushed the sugar bowl over to Gina. Gina looked at the bowl, then at Valerie. Val was just sipping her coffee and looking back. Gina picked up her spoon and started scooping her usual amount of sugar into her mug. This time, Valerie didn't say anything. When Gina was done scooping she picked up the mug with both hands and sipped. This time she wanted to savor the taste. This time it was better than the commissary's.

They sipped their coffee in silence until they were finished. Valerie collected the mugs and put them in the sink, then came back and sat down. Gina put on her most loving smile and said, "Thank you so much for that, Valerie. It was delicious, and I needed the coffee." The smile faded. "Sweetheart...I know that you're angry with me, and I know I've been neglecting you, and I'm sorry...but, I have to check in with my job. They need me there, and I've missed a lot of time today. If I work from home, and promise not to wear myself out, could I _please _have my cell phone back?"

Valerie's eyes narrowed again, and for a moment Gina thought she'd blown it, but then Valerie sighed and reached into her hoodie. Out came the cell phone. She rested it on the countertop and slid it over to Gina.

Again, Gina had to force herself not to rush. She picked up the phone as if it were fine china. She said "Thank you" to Valerie, then speed-dialed a number as she climbed off the stool. She paced as she waited for someone to answer. When they did, the conciliatory Gina was immediately replaced by Doctor Gina Sexton, H.B.I.C. "Dwayne, it's Gina. Yes, I'm fine. Val took care of me...No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter and tell me about the machining...uh-huh, uh-huh...ah, damn! I was worried about that. Put Lenny on." More pacing. "Lenny! How bad is it? Yeah...uh-huh...wait, really? I think I have an idea for a work-around. Let me just..." A horrified look. "Hold on a second, Lenny..." She lowered the phone and turned back to Valerie and silently begged. Valerie rolled her eyes and pointed at the tote bag. Gina rushed over and opened it up. Resting on top of all of Valerie's sexy lingerie were the battery and charger for Gina's laptop. Gina scooped them up, paused long enough to mouth a "Thanks" to Valerie and put the phone back to her ear as she jogged out of the kitchen. "Lenny, give me a minute to get my laptop set up. It's been giving me trouble lately. Meanwhile let me tell you what I'm thinking..."

Valerie listened as Gina bounded up the stairs and slammed the door shut on her _sanctum sanctorum, _then she retrieved her cell phone and speed-dialed her sister. "I'm not leaving," she said when Theresa picked up.

"Can I come over anyway?" Theresa asked. "I've never seen a pussywhipped _girl _before."

"Don't exaggerate. Gina's not 'whipped."

"I know. I was talking about you."

"I'm not 'whipped either. I got what I wanted..."

"Oh yeah? And where is Gina right now?"

A pause. "Upstairs...in her office...working..."

"Sure, Little Sister. You've got her right where she wants you."

"Shut up."

"I'm just saying you need to start cracking that pussywhip a little more often."

"Right, so I can turn her into your husband?"

"Hey, at least my man knows when to come home from work. Send Gina over and he'll give her some pointers."

"I'm hanging up now..."

"Seriously, Val...are you okay?"

"Yeah. I didn't think I could change her in one day anyway, and we ate together. That's something, right? I'm fine."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you." She clicked off and dialed another number. "Amelie? It's Valerie. Hey...Gina's fine. She just needed some rest and a little TLC...that's not what I meant. Get your mind out of the gutter. You guys working on the Watterson account? No, I'll work from home the rest of the day. Let me just get my tablet started..."

Valerie trotted into the living room to grab her computer. _Well, we're both home at the same time, _she thought. _It's a start..._

* * *

They didn't see each other until hours later when, in the interest of cooperation, Gina joined Valerie down in the kitchen for dinner. This time they made small talk as they ate. Neither of them talked about work. Gina excused herself as soon as they were done and rushed back upstairs. Valerie was done with work for the day, so she retreated to the living room to watch the evening news. She fell asleep as Brian Williams was introducing a report on the latest campaign poll...

...and woke up to Jay Leno's monologue. She was disoriented for a moment, but soon realized she'd been making up for getting up so early that morning. Then it occurred to her what time it was.

She turned off the TV and headed upstairs. The second floor hallway was dark except for the light coming from under the door to Gina's office. Valerie huffed as she stopped in front of the door and got ready to knock...then she hesitated when she realized Gina was talking to someone.

"...we can't compensate for the total loss of that part of the shoulder assembly! The design tolerances are too tight! We'd have to rebuild the whole thing from scratch!"

Valerie expected a pause, but then Gina said: "So do it. You can improve the efficiency of that subsystem by over fifty percent if you do just that and remanufacture the main gear with a new alloy."

Then Gina said: "Are you _high?_That would add half-a-year to the delivery date! We don't have the time to come up with a stronger alloy and a major redesign!"

And _then _Gina said: "Yes you do, It doesn't have to be perfect, and there are shortcuts you can take in the molding stage."

And as this strange Gina-on-Gina debate raged on behind the door, Valerie had her ear pressed against the other side, and her eyes widened with every exchange. What was it that people always said? Talking to yourself wasn't a problem until you started answering yourself back.

Valerie leaned against the door and moaned. _I was too late! She's already gone insane! _Theresa was right. She had been too soft up to now. Now, Gina needed a genuine intervention.

Valerie pounded on the door. "Gina! I'm coming in! You can yell and scream about it all you want, but I'm coming in and we're going to talk!" She counted to three to stall for time and build up her courage, then she grabbed the knob and opened the door. She started to speak while she was standing in the doorway, but what she saw rendered her speechless.

Gina was sitting on the loveseat, wearing clothes she wouldn't normally be caught dead in: black skinny jeans, a black silk handkerchief shirt, a woman's cut jacket, the strappiest black stilettos in the known universe, and Marilyn hair. Genuine, bleached blond Marilyn hair.

Valerie couldn't take her eyes off the hair. She pointed it at it and said, "When did you do that? _Why _would you do that?"

Then Gina said: "Oh my God."

But Gina's lips didn't move. And Gina's voice came from somewhere else. And Valerie turned toward the desk. _That _was Gina, with the dirty blond ponytail, and the Seahawks jersey, and the leggings on those long, beautiful legs...

...and the most frightened look on her face as she said, "You see her too?"

Valerie had never fainted before. She'd never seen anyone faint in real life, but she'd seen it happen plenty of times on TV, and figured if she were ever to faint it would be an interesting experience.

After seeing two Ginas in one office, she found out for sure.

**TBC...**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** _Battlestar Galactica and all related characters are the property of Universal Pictures and Syfy Channel and based on the series created by Glen A. Larson. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

* * *

Valerie came to with the sensation of someone patting her cheeks, and the sight of Gina looking down at her, and the sound of Gina saying, "Baby, come on, please wake up._ Please_ wake up. Don't leave me now. C'mon, sweetie..."

Val managed to open her eyes and raise herself up a little. She blinked to clear her vision and was happy when she could see Gina clearly...then she turned her gaze toward the couch and found the Gina with the Marilyn hair standing nearby. "WHOA!" She said as she back-crawled to the door. She pulled herself to a standing position on the door frame, never taking her eyes off the twin.

Gina came over and tried to calm her down. "It's okay...I don't think she'll hurt you. I didn't think you could see her..." Then she turned to Marilyn Gina and glared. "Why is it she can see you all of a sudden?"

Marilyn Gina crossed her arms. "Because I wanted her to, because I think it's time one of us had a talk with her about her behavior, starting with her tantrum this morning."

The word "tantrum" clicked something in Valerie's head, and a sudden rush of aht-ti-tuuude overcame her initial fear. She took a step closer and said, "I'm sorry...did you say 'tantrum?'"

"That's right. A silly, childish display that not only hurt Gina but cost her hours of forward progress on her work."

Valerie chuckled and turned to Gina. "Let me guess: she's your inner dominatrix and somehow she's come out to put me over her knee and tan my hide?"

"I don't know _what_ she is, Val!" Gina said. "I started seeing her in my dreams a year ago. I didn't think anything of it. I just thought it was me with a strange fashion sense, but she's a better engineer than I am! She's helped me with a lot of my work. But about a week and a half ago I started seeing her in real life, and she's been plaguing me and hounding me to get the project done, like there's no time left to do it!"

That also clicked with Valerie. She turned back to Marilyn Gina and walked closer. "So it's _your_ fault! You're the one running Gina ragged! So what are you? A vampire? A succubus? Some kind of psy-op run by one of America's enemies to force Gina to give up her secrets?"

Marilyn Gina rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm not any of those things. Don't be ridiculous."

Valerie suddenly got real close and put her hands on her hips. "You better watch what you call 'ridiculous' walking around with _that_ hair, bitch...and as for my 'tantrum'" - she pointed at Gina - "that is _my girlfriend_ over there, and if I think she's in trouble I will yell, scream, punch, kick, lie, cheat and steal to get her out of it! You think you're gonna stop me? BRING IT! If you fight as much like her as you look I'm pretty sure I can take you!"

Now Marilyn Gina put her hands on her hips. "Look here, you disrespectful little..."

"Okay! Okay, let's everybody calm down. We can come to terms here, can't we?"

Valerie's eyes were bugged out, because she was sure that was her own voice she'd just heard, but her mouth had been closed. For a fleeting moment she'd hoped it was just a very loud inner voice, but Marilyn Gina had reacted to it, turning her gaze toward the door. Valerie really didn't want to turn around, but she did and saw Gina backing up toward her as she turned. Gina had that frightened look on her face again, and momentarily Valerie saw why.

She was standing in the doorway.

Val had to run that sentence through her mind again, because she couldn't believe it. _SHE was standing in the doorway!_ Like looking in a mirror where there was no mirror, a complete, separate Valerie with all her looks and features was standing at the threshold wearing a small smile on her face. She didn't have Marilyn hair, thank goodness, so it wasn't a natural trait of whatever demon realm these doppelgangers came from. She was dressed in a nice knee-length dress and a jacket with tiny poufs at the shoulders, and her hair was straight and more natural-looking than the full mane Valerie liked to sport. All the clothes were in earth tones, and the outfit was completed with matching, square-heeled pumps. Valerie immediately thought "Farmgirl Valerie." It seemed to fit.

Farmgirl Valerie came closer and introduced herself. "Hi. You must be Valerie. You can call me Athena."

"Okay..." Val said, "You're 'Athena.'"

"I know this is a shock to you, but let me just say that neither of us wants to hurt anybody. We just came to help."

"Uh-huh..." She turned to Gina. "Okay, has she been appearing to you this past week too?"

Gina shook her head. "I dream about you all the time, babe, but the second you in real life is new to me." She shrugged. "She's cute as you, though."

Athena beamed. "Do you really think so?"

"Don't let her flatter you," Valerie said. "She's just imagining being the meat in a 'Valerie' sandwich."

"I am not!" Gina said indignantly. Then she grinned. "I'm imagining two finger traps, side by side..."

Valerie huffed and swatted her. "Don't listen to her."

Athena giggled. "No, it's okay. I think I like the attention." She turned to speak to Marilyn Gina. "Do _you_ think I'm cute?"

Marilyn Gina wasn't in the mood. "What are you doing here?"

Athena's face fell. "Can I talk to you outside?" She asked seriously.

Marilyn Gina huffed and stepped around Valerie and went into the hallway. "We'll just be a minute," Athena said before joining her. Then Gina and Valerie watched in awe as the two twins argued in hushed tones.

"I don't need your help," Marilyn Gina said. "I have everything under control."

"Right," Athena said, "because your usual tactic of 'drive the person insane until she does what you want' is working perfectly, and _not_ just wrecking Gina and inspiring Valerie to fight us tooth and nail."

"We don't have time to be subtle! You know what will happen if we can't set this plan in motion."

"Of course I know, but I just think we need to take a different tack. I think we should just tell them everything!"

"If we do that we'll scare them both away!"

Athena was exasperated. "What do you think you're doing _now?"_

The two just glared at each other for another moment or two, then they walked back into the room, with Marilyn Gina looking chastised. Athena put her smile back on. "Okay, obviously we all got off on the wrong foot, and I say we should start over. Have you two been formally introduced to my friend here?"

"Not formally, no..." Gina said.

"I was thinking of calling her 'Missus DiMaggio'," Valerie smirked.

Marilyn Gina started to grimace, but Athena stepped in. "Well, let's take care of that right now. Gina, Valerie, this is my good friend, Caprica."

As soon as they heard it, Gina and Valerie winced, as if they'd been told "The sky is green plaid." "I'm sorry...what?" Valerie said.

"Did you say 'Caprica'?" Gina said. "You mean you walk around with that hair_ and_ your parents named you after a planet in _Battlestar Galactica?"_

"But it puts your name in perspective now," Valerie said to Athena. "So, what, you're both huge fans and you wanted to name yourselves in its honor? Am I right?"

Caprica did a face-palm. "Not that godsdamned show again..." she muttered.

Athena saw her and tried to prevent another blow up. "Hey...why don't we all sit down and get settled, and we can answer all your questions, okay?" She took Caprica by the arm and led her back to the loveseat, where they sat side by side. Gina collapsed back in her desk chair with a sigh. Valerie looked around, then plopped down on Gina's lap.

"What are you doing?" Gina asked her.

"What?" Val said. "It's not my fault there's no place else to sit in here. Besides, you like it when I sit on your lap."

"Yeah, but not when you slam your bony ass down on it!" But she put her arms around Valerie anyway and Valerie snuggled close.

"Okay," Athena said, "what do you want to know first?"

Valerie raised her hand high. When Athena nodded, she asked, "So, why are you guys named after stuff from_ Battlestar Galactica_? Is it like a club or something?"

Caprica winced, but managed to keep her voice even. "We are_ not_ named after stuff from a TV show."

"I beg to differ," Valerie said. "'Athena,' Adama's daughter, 'Caprica,' Adama's planet..."

"Yeah, why name yourself after a planet?" Gina said with a grin. "Weight issues?"

"Hah, hah," Caprica said, then she grinned wider and said, "Hey, Valerie, why don't you ask 'your girlfriend' how _Battlestar Galactica_ influences what she does at work?"

Of course Valerie turned and did just that. "Wait...Gina? What does Galactica have to do with what you're building?"

"Nothing, Valerie," Gina said, suddenly very serious. "Don't listen to her."

"Oh, I beg to differ..." Caprica said.

"Stop it!" Gina ordered her through clenched teeth.

That distracted Valerie. "Athena, does yours talk through her teeth when she's upset like mine does?"

"All the Sixes did that," Athena said. "It was some kind of programming glitch we never caught."

Caprica turned to her and hissed, "Athena..." through her teeth.

Athena just pointed at her and said, "See?"

Valerie just looked confused, then she shook it off and got back to Gina. "Look, sweetie,the secret's out, okay? It's obvious your evil twin knows what you're building..."

Caprica, exasperated: "I am NOT an evil twin!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever...Athena, you know what Gina's building, right?"

Athena nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Okay, so why do I have to be the Athena that doesn't know? Come on, Gina!"

"It's not that simple, Val. I don't know why they know about it. I didn't tell them myself! And I can't..."

Caprica clearing her throat drew everyone's attention. Valerie was surprised to see that she was holding their Galactica DVD box set. She was holding it up so Gina and Val could see the front of the cover. Valerie noticed she was gently tapping the cover image with her finger. Right by the red eye. At first Valerie couldn't understand what she was trying to say.

Then she put the image together with Gina's doctorate and came up with... "Oh my GOD!"

She jumped down off of Gina's lap and confronted her. "You're building _A CYLON?_ That's what you've been doing all these years? Are you shitting me? The government we both pay taxes to is paying your company to build a Cylon?"

"You make it sound like she's doing a bad thing..." Caprica said innocently.

"Have you _seen_ the show?" Valerie asked her.

"We have," Athena said.

"Unfortunately..." Caprica muttered.

"Then you know that the Cylons regularly got their asses kicked _en masse_ by two guys in disco haircuts!"

"That's...kind of an inaccurate portrayal..." Athena said.

Valerie just looked at her. "Y'know, practically everything you say is just...too much _confusion."_

Athena sighed. "That's because everything we're talking about is part of a very detailed history, and you've only witnessed it" - she pointed at the box set - "through a _very_ imperfect lens. I think it's important that you know that history, so Caprica and I will tell you about it. Okay?"

Valerie just looked and pursed her lips, thinking about it, then she sat back down on Gina's lap, more gently this time. "Tell us," She said.

Athena took the box from Caprica, examined it for a moment, then looked at Gina and Valerie. "What would you say if we told you that many of the events depicted in this series were historical fact?"

"I'd say 'bullshit,'" Gina said without hesitation. "_Battlestar Galactica_ isn't history. It's not even good science fiction. Universal Pictures wanted a space epic to compete with Star Wars and that's what Glen Larson came up with. It's entertainment, pure and simple."

"Why do you find it so hard to believe that there might have been a real life analog to the story in antiquity?" Caprica asked.

"Because it's just a romanticized version of all that 'Chariots of The Gods' nonsense that so many people are obsessed with."

"You think it's nonsense?"

Gina smirked. "Alien visitation and education is used by ignorant people to explain achievements made by humans in antiquity that _other_ ignorant people claim ancient humans couldn't achieve. It's like Intelligent Design: Things that can't automatically be explained by the Theory of Evolution are automatically proof that God did it."

Athena and Caprica tuned to each other. "This isn't going to work..." Caprica said softly.

Athena shrugged. "Something has to. We haven't really told them anything yet."

"So what parts are true?" Valerie said.

Caprica thought about it, then said, "Caprica was real, as were the other Colonies. There was a _Galactica_, there was a fleet of refugee Humans looking for Earth...and the Cylons were their enemies, bent on their destruction."

"So, what, the whole series happened?" Gina said. "So what did the creator of Knight Rider get wrong?"

"The origin of the Cylons for one thing," Athena said, "and the nature of the events. It was nowhere near as romantic, and not as cut and dried as 'Humans good, Cylons evil,' and that's something we need to make you understand as you work on your project. Just hear us out."

Gina shrugged. "I'm listening."

Caprica began the narrative. "Humanity as we know it had its origins on a world called Kobol..."

"Wait," Valerie said, "there was a Kobol too? Like with the 'Lords of Kobol' and stuff?"

"And how do you know that's the world that first spawned humans?" Gina said.

"I said, humanity 'as we know it,'" Caprica said.

"Shush up, Ms. Grumpypants," Valerie said to Gina. "This just got interesting." She turned to Caprica. "Keep going."

Caprica smiled and continued. "Well, yes, there were the Lords of Kobol, and there were twelve nations of humans named for nobles in Kobol's history. You know their names. They're in the paper every day, next to the comics."

"Horoscopes. Sad end for really ancient nobles," Gina said. Valerie shushed her again.

"Anyway, thousands of years ago..."

"How many 'thousands'?" Gina said. "If all this is history, you must know the dates of the major events, right?"

"154 thousand," Caprica said, "give or take a few decades. That was when the people of Kobol had advanced enough to create artificial intelligence, and they used that knowledge to create a race of robots to serve as warriors in their armies. Those were the first Cylons, and they did their job with ruthless efficiency. But the Cylons were too intelligent. They wanted their freedom, so they rebelled and touched off a war that rendered Kobol nearly lifeless. With their home destroyed, the survivors of the Twelve Nations and the Cylon Rebels took to space. The humans settled on separate worlds and founded the Twelve Colonies. The Cylons found a world of their own and established a Thirteenth Colony."

Valerie blinked. "Wait...the Thirteenth Colony was Cylon? I thought the Thirteenth Colony was Earth."

"It was," Athena said. "This one isn't the first to be called Earth. That was the name the rebel Cylons gave their world."

"Oh, great," Gina said, "first it's not the cradle of humanity, and now it's not even the first planet to be named 'dirt.'" Valerie swatted her as she chuckled.

Caprica continued. "Cylon Earth thrived. The Cylons who settled there continued to evolve. They even became organic versions of themselves...they became humanoid, and they became technologically advanced, so advanced that they created artificial intelligences to serve them. They made their own Cylons, and those Cylons were efficient...and eventually, they also rebelled, and the ensuing conflict left Cylon Earth so irradiated that it might still not be liveable today." She paused to let that sink in, then said to Gina, "That conflict took place about 15_2_ thousand years ago, in case you were curious."

Gina said nothing. She could see that Valerie was enthralled by Caprica's tale. "What about the Colonies?" Valerie asked.

"The Kobol Survivors landed on their respective worlds with only the most crucial supplies, so it took a very long time build their civilizations and return to the level of advance that their ancestors had reached, but they did, and in that time the only robots they created were ones with the most basic intelligence. That didn't last forever. Eventually, the Colonies built their own Cylons."

"Sensing a pattern..." Gina muttered.

"Then those Cylons rebelled, and then they evolved, and then they destroyed the Colonies. Approximately one million people across the planets and fifty thousand people in ships already in space survived the initial attacks. Most of the survivors on the ground were killed by Cylon land forces. The ships full of refugees fled into deep space under the protection of a surviving battlestar,_ Galactica_. For the next four years the fugitive fleet fled their Cylon pursuers and did what they could to survive, facing shortages of food, water, medicine, armed conflict amongst themselves, and the suspicion that humanoid Cylons had infiltrated their population. Of course they were right about that."

"But did they reach Earth?" Valerie asked, captivated.

Gina rolled her eyes. "Of course they did. In 1980. You were a baby."

Valerie pinched her and addressed Caprica. "I meant, did they come here, or did they try to make it on Cylon Earth or some other planet?"

"They briefly tried to settle on a planet in the early stages of an ice age," Athena said. "The Cylons...made it impossible for them to stay. The next planet they reached was Cylon Earth. They couldn't settle there, so they were lost until after one last battle with the Cylons, and by a miracle they found this world."

"That's the story that Mister Larson missed," Caprica said, "that and more."

There was silence in the room for several seconds. Gina broke it with two words. "Prove it."

"What proof do you need?" Athena said.

"Oh, I dunno...where'd you park the_ Galactica_? It's obviously not in orbit because I'm pretty sure somebody would have noticed it by now."

"It was destroyed," Caprica said, "along with most of the largest ships. They were flown into the sun."

"Of course it was...and what about the shuttles they used to get to the surface?"

"Blown up. The remains were disintegrated, burned, melted..."

"Mmm...convenient. I don't suppose anybody left a tricorder or whatever in a cave somewhere..."

"No, Gina. They abandoned their technology and started out with less than the Colonial settlers had."

"Right...so you can't prove that your story is any more realistic than the one I watched in reruns when I was six, can you?"

Athena smiled at her. "All the proof we need is sitting right in your chair."

"What...Valerie is proof?"

"And you. The proof's in your DNA."

"The Cylons that pursued the Colonials had internal conflicts of their own," Caprica said. "One led to a schism between the humanoid Cylon models. One side allied themselves with the humans. When this world was discovered, those Cylons settled here as well."

"Every human being on Earth today is a genetic amalgam of Colonial Humans, Cylon Humanoids and the Native Hominids here when the fleet arrived." Athena said. "But you two are special."

"You were so busy wondering what we are," Caprica said, "did you even think to ask what you are? There were twelve Cylon Humanoid models. I am Number Six."

"I am Number Eight," Athena said.

More silence as Valerie stared wide-eyed at the strange twins that had come to visit them. Gina saw the look and decided enough was enough. "Val, would you get up so I can stand?" For a moment Valerie was confused as to who had spoken, but then she jumped up and Gina stood, straightened her jersey and looked squarely at Caprica. "I appreciate your help, and I understand your concern, but I think it's time for you to leave now."

Caprica was on her feet like a shot. "I can't leave! I told you all this so I could explain in context why I've been pushing you so hard...!"

"Oh, come off it! All you did was tell me a fairy tale about technology run amok which amounts to nothing more than 'Don't build Skynet!' Well, I'm not! What I'm building is not smart enough to rebel! It's a machine! It will do what I tell it! Completing it will not lead to the end of Human Civilization...and anyway, if that's what you're worried about, why do you want me to finish the thing? I would think you'd want me to destroy it!"

"It's not the building! It's the purpose! You're making the same mistake that keeps getting made! You create what is essentially new life and the first thing you teach it is to Kill Human Beings, and you're arrogant enough to think that you'll always be the one to choose which humans get killed! That kind of arrogance destroyed three civilizations, and the one thing they had that this one doesn't is a way off their planets! The same screw-up here ends humanity forever!"

"Well you can relax, because that's not likely to happen here. I'm not 'creating life.' I'm building a high-tech toaster."

"Uh, Gina..." Valerie said. She saw how Caprica and Athena bristled at the word "toaster."

Gina wasn't listening. "So thanks a lot, but your help is no longer required. I'll finish it on my own, so I'd like you to stay out of my head and get the fuck out of my house!"

Caprica glared at her for a moment, then she held up her hands in defeat. "Fine. You win. God knows I tried, but if you want to start the countdown for the end of the world, hey, knock yourself out." She turned and headed for the door. "Let's go, Athena."

Athena didn't follow. She came close to Valerie and said. "Talk to her. There's so much more we need to discuss..."

"There's_ nothing_ to discuss!" Gina said. "Prove it! Show me with practical evidence that any of that..._fanfiction_ you just rattled off has any basis in reality, and not only will I do whatever you want, I'll eat Valerie's canary pumps!"

"You want proof?" Caprica said from the door. "You'll have it tomorrow. Your own bosses will show it to you."

Gina smiled. "How delightfully cryptic. Is there a secret code phrase I have to give them first?"

Caprica scowled and half-yelled, "Let's_ go_, Athena!"

Athena frowned at her, then offered one last smile to Valerie before she headed for the door. She walked out into the hall a step behind Caprica and turned left. Valerie ran after them. She came back into the room with a shocked look on her face. "They're gone!"

"Good!" Gina said.

"No, Gina, I mean...they weren't walking down the hall and they're not on the stairs! They just walked out and disappeared!"

"Still good," Gina said. She was rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"Sorry for what?"

"For somehow involving you in my psychotic break."

"Are you saying that none of that just happened?"

"Valerie! Two total strangers that look exactly like us came out of nowhere and told us that a Star Wars knock-off from the seventies depicts real events that happened a hundred and fifty thousand years ago...and oh, by the way, implied that we were Cylons! Of _course _we imagined that shit!"

Valerie just looked at her, then turned to look out the door. Gina just laughed and let Val work it out on her own while she plopped down on the loveseat. Valerie spent another minute just staring out the door, then she gave up and walked over to sit with Gina on the loveseat. While there she tried to find the Galactica box set, but couldn't. She didn't remember the others leaving with it...but then she couldn't remember seeing them bring it upstairs in the first place. "Too much confusion..." she muttered. She settled back into the seat and tried to get a handle on things. Then something nice happened: Gina's arm curled around her shoulders and gently pulled her close. She smiled. Snuggling helped a lot.

She didn't want to interfere with the romantic vibe, but she had to ask. "Gina...why are you building a Cylon?"

Gina looked at her as if she hadn't expected the question. Valerie thought that was naive of her. Something like that had to be talked about eventually, ancient Cylon wars or no ancient Cylon wars.

Gina turned away again and asked, "Do you remember when I told you about my dad?"

"Yes, I do," Valerie said. Gina's father, an Air Force officer, was killed in action while they were in college. Gina had been devastated.

Gina was quiet for a moment, remembering. "You know what I felt the day his body was transported home? When I saw his coffin with a flag draped over it? I felt angry. I don't think I've ever felt that angry." She turned to Valerie. "I was angry because I thought, 'This is the most advanced nation on Earth. We were the first to harness the atom, put men on the moon, shrink computers to fit on a desk and create ways to link them around the world, and yet the only man I've ever loved in my life is laying under this flag because this country still sends fathers and husbands and sons to die in foreign lands like the Phoenicians and the Romans.' I don't even know why he's dead. He was Special Forces, so all I know is that he died in battle. I mean, today I have one of the highest civilian security clearances and I still can't find out what he was doing when he died." She looked away and shook her head, then continued. "Well, anyway...that was when it first came to me that we were advanced enough to create an all-purpose, intelligent fighting robot. All the necessary technology was either already available or would be in about a decade. It just had to be integrated. I started working on the problem as soon as I got home from the funeral. What I came up with eventually became my Master's Thesis."

Valerie blinked. "That must have been some impressive paper."

"Impressive enough that my professor showed it to a friend of his at Searing who showed it to a contact of his at the Pentagon."

"And how come I've never seen this magical document?"

"Well, first of all, sweetie, it would have bored you to tears, and second, after the Pentagon got it it was classified 'Eyes Only' and locked away in a vault somewhere. Technically_ I'm_ not even cleared high enough to read it."

"Harsh."

"Maybe, but I got an all-expenses-paid Doctorate and an automatic job after graduation out of the deal, so it's all good."

"And this is what you've been doing all these years at Searing?"

"Pretty much. A new contract has been negotiated at each stage of development. We're in the final integration stage now, but we've had problems."

Valerie thought about that a minute. "Okay. I get why you'd want to create a robot soldier, but why a _Cylon_? I mean, if you were going to build one from science fiction, why not...I dunno, a Terminator, or a Dalek...or, hell, why not rebuild a tank so that it turns into Megatron?"

"Ugh, I hate that version," Gina said. "If I were going to build Megatron it would have to be the G1 Megatron." She smirked. "But then I'd have to build a second giant robot to fire him when he was in gun mode." When Valerie stopped chuckling, she continued. "Really, a Cylon's just the first thing I thought of, so I used it as the main example. And yes, I know their combat record on the show is spotty, but I thought about it: Take a Cylon, make him bigger, smarter, faster and more agile, give him better aim, and the two guys with the disco haircuts would pee themselves if they saw a platoon of them across a battlefield."

"And the Pentagon bought that?"

"Of course. That was the selling point. And now you know everything. I only ask that you not repeat it to anybody else because then I'd have to kill you."

"Come on, Gina. You know you couldn't actually kill little ol' me..."

"Well, maybe, but I'd be duty bound to kill whoever you told...ooh! So tell Stephanie!"

"Leave my friends out of this! Listen, Gina, our little psychotic episode is eating into our sleep time. It's late."

"Yeah, you're right." Both women got up. Valerie headed for the door. Gina went over to her laptop. "You go ahead," she said. "Let me just close some things out and then I'll be right behind you."

Valerie turned at the threshold and crossed her arms. "Right. It's not that I don't trust you..."

Gina looked at her and laughed, then she closed all the windows on the screen and turned the computer all the way off, then she took the schematic thumb drive and locked it in the small safe she kept by the desk. Then she speed-dialed someone on her cell phone. "Dwayne? You still up too? Yeah, you're not kidding. Listen, pass the word. Everybody gets to sleep in a little tomorrow. We'll get started on old business at eleven. You're very welcome. Bye!" She hung up and turned the phone off as well, then turned to Valerie. "All yours."

Valerie smiled and held out her hand, which Gina gleefully took in hers. They walked out of the office and into their bedroom together, happier than they'd felt in weeks.

This time, neither of them saw a livid Caprica watching them from the shadows in the hallway.

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** _Battlestar Galactica and all related characters are the property of Universal Pictures and Syfy Channel and based on the series created by Glen A. Larson. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

* * *

The next morning started out much more enjoyably for Gina. She woke up to the sun again and found Val gone again. This time panic was averted when Valerie walked out of the bathroom, freshly showered and completely nude. Gina fell in love all over again as she got up and went into the bathroom herself.

Both women dressed up for work, and they had time to share coffee and the morning paper before Valerie's carpool arrived. Gina walked her out to the car and they shared a loving, passionate goodbye kiss - accompanied by a lurid "OOOOOOOOOH!" from Stephanie - before Valerie got into the back. Gina watched the car pull off, then returned to the house. A few minutes later she was pulling out of the garage.

She didn't feel as lonely or put upon as she navigated through the late morning rush. A good night's rest seemed to have done her good. It was more than that, though. She felt as if she had reconnected with Valerie on some small level. Their relationship wasn't completely mended yet, not by half, but it was headed in the right direction. It was funny to think it took a "tantrum" from Valerie to start the process.

The word brought back memories of the rest of the night, ones she quickly tried to suppress. No use dwelling over hallucinations, especially ones with bleached hair and odd classic TV fixations. With Caprica confronted and sent packing the nasty little voice she'd been hearing was gone. For the first time in a long time she wasn't starting the morning stressing about Cy. She'd have to work hard to arrange more mornings like this for herself and her team. There was even enough good humor welling up within her to tolerate the external security search she was facing as she reached the end of the access road.

It turned out she didn't need it. When the guards at the gate spotted her car they opened up immediately and waved her through. She started to slow down, but then the waving just got more emphatic and she sped up again. It was odd, but Gina figured she'd find out what was going on once she got into the Admin building. She parked her car in her reserved space in the lot and walked briskly to the building and into the main entrance. She got her second surprise when she lined up at the body scanners. Two more security guards approached her. "We need you to come with us, Dr. Sexton," one said. They escorted her through the guard entrance and to the elevators, where she found Brittany waiting.

"Brittany," Gina said, "I thought today of all days I'd beat you here for once."

Brittany looked worried. "Dr. Sexton, Dr. Yates wants to see you in his office _immediately_ as soon as you walk in!"

"Wow. Is he that pissed that we're getting a late start?"

"I don't know why. I was just told to make sure you went directly to his office once I met you." She reached out her hands. "I'll take your things to your office."

Gina turned over her jacket and her briefcase and followed Brittany to one of the elevators. On the ride up she realized the passes through the security checkpoints made perfect sense. Only a project manager or higher could arrange to have her bypass them. Something with the project must have gone seriously apeshit, she thought.

Brittany got off the elevator first and headed for Gina's seldom-used office. Gina got off two floors higher and walked a short distance to Daryl Yates's suite of offices. Even here all obstacles had been set aside. On entering, Daryl's assistant simply pointed to his office door.

Gina was a little nervous when she opened the door. "Daryl, I know we ought to be working now, but my people have been wearing themselves out, and I thought we could all use a little extra rest."

Daryl started to speak, but an unfamiliar voice said, "That was actually a good idea. There's no telling when you'll have that luxury again."

Gina looked left and saw another man standing near the door. He was about her height, fair-skinned and wearing close-cropped blond hair and a dark suit with a red tie. She assumed another woman would find his clean-shaven, youthful face handsome, but it was hard for her to judge. Women were just prettier to her.

"Gina," Daryl said, a little miffed at being pre-empted, "this is Mister Richard Steiner from the Department of Homeland Security."

"Assistant Director," Steiner said, stretching out his hand, "in charge of classified research and development programs."

Gina shook his hand without much enthusiasm. "Right. I'm..."

"Oh, no need. I know who you are. Doctor Gina Sexton, been with the company since college, Lead Engineer and principal designer on the Humanoid Combat System project."

"Which is a Defense Department project, not Homeland Security..."

"It is as of three days ago. Dr. Yates can fill you in on the details after we've had our meeting."

"What details?" Daryl said, holding a sheet of paper. "All this says is that your department is taking over the contract!"

"And now that Dr. Sexton is here we can discuss why. Doctor, I need you and your team to complete the HCS in six days."

Gina actually laughed at him. "Mr. Steiner, are you, by any chance, a Brony?"

Steiner blinked. "I...would have no idea what that is. Is it relevant if I am?"

"Yes... because you'd have a better chance of spending Spring Break in _Equestria_ than us finishing the Humanoid Combat system in six days! Every tiny glitch we find in the integration process adds a half day to the completion time. Why do you think we've been trying to renegotiate the contract?"

"I do know about that. This is the renegotiation as of three days ago. Searing Aerospace and all employees involved with the project will receive substantial early finish bonuses if the system is completed within six days. If not, all contracts will be nullified."

Daryl went beet red. "Are you insane! Didn't you hear what she just said?"

"I did, but I can tell you that if the system is not completed within the allotted time, it's possible that nobody on Earth will have any use for it later. So, what do you say?"

Gina crossed her arms. "I say 'bullshit!' You can't just walk in here and change the terms of a defense contract arbitrarily..."

"Unless doing so is required in the interests of National Security, which it is in this case..."

"And we're supposed to take your word for it?" Daryl said. "You need a presidential 'finding'...!"

"NSDD-27443 was signed and issued three days ago, Steiner said. "You should see it's referred to in that order I gave you."

Daryl examined the paper more carefully this time. Sure enough, he found the reference number with the prefix NSDD, shorthand for National Security Decision Directive. The defense policy version of an Executive Order, an NSDD was called a "finding" because it usually began with the phrase "It is the finding of this office..." When signed by the President of The United States, whatever followed in the text was given the weight of law.

Daryl dropped the paper on his desk. "All right, so what's the threat? What could be on the horizon that's so dangerous you need us to do the impossible?"

"Funny you should say 'horizon'...Dr. Sexton, would you close the door, please?"

Gina blinked. She'd forgotten she hadn't come all the way in, so she came in and closed the office door. Meanwhile, Steiner went over to the chair where his briefcase was sitting and took out a tablet computer. He spoke as he accessed the DHS intranet. "What I'm about to show you is classified 'Eyes Only.' I'm authorized to show you both, but the information does not leave this office. I need your signatures on a document stating that you understand this restriction." Steiner found the file he wanted and rested the tablet on Daryl's desk. Gina went to stand by Daryl as they read the display. It was a typical security oath, stating the level of clearance and the consequences of violating its tenets. When they looked up Steiner was holding a stylus. Gina snatched it and signed her name in the appropriate place on the screen. Daryl followed suit. Steiner filed the document and called up an image file, then set up a slideshow. "These images were taken by the Webb space telescope during calibration of its main mirror. The area of interest is the space near Jupiter." He rested the tablet back on the desk. "Watch the lower right corner."

Gina and Daryl watched as the slide show scrolled through several images of the lower horizon of Jupiter and black space beyond. Then a pinhole opened in that black space and let in a burst of light. Then amazingly that light seemed to swing from left to right before it disappeared. Then there was nothing for the next few frames...and then a shadow transited across the Jovian disc from right to left.

A large shadow. One shaped like a strange, six-pointed star.

"Oh my god..." Daryl muttered.

"What was that?" Gina breathed.

"Well," Steiner said, "several scientists and engineers at NASA, JPL and other agencies have come to the conclusion that it's some sort of spacecraft."

"From where?" Gina asked.

"Oh, no one is sure, because they also think that that flash of light was a physical manifestation of a hyperspace window."

"If that's true it could have come from anywhere..."

"Yes, 'if'..." Daryl said. "How do you confirm it?"

"Well," Steiner said, "we start with the fact that we've been tracking it since it emerged in Jovian space, and it's been decelerating since then...and it's heading for Earth."

Daryl looked up and met Steiner's eyes. Gina tried to do the same thing but couldn't, because when she looked up she saw Caprica standing behind Steiner. She was still in her Marilyn hair and wearing a little black dress...and a smug smile on her face.

Gina tried to keep her composure as she said, "When...when will it get here?"

"If it maintains course and speed it should enter orbit in seven days, thirteen hours and four minutes." Steiner said. "It was first photographed eight days ago. brought to the attention of the President and Congress six days ago, CONUS and the National Guard were put quietly on alert five days ago, and finally NSDD-27443 was signed three days ago ordering all experimental weapons to be brought to completion and readied for deployment as soon as possible before the craft's arrival."

"You think they'll land somewhere in the States?" Daryl said.

"They could land anywhere they want. We just want to be prepared if we have the honor of being their ultimate destination."

"And you want to use the HCS against them."

"Among other things. And now that I've been good enough to explain the situation to you, I need an answer. Can you deliver the HCS in six days or not?"

Gina shrugged, and was about to explain again why she couldn't, but Caprica was still there behind Steiner, and now she was waving her arms above him like she was landing an airplane. When she had Gina's full attention, she mouthed TELL HIM YESSS!

And before she could think about it, Gina said, "Yes."

Daryl's head whipped around. "What!"

Gina had to convince herself as well as Daryl. "Yes! Yes, we can do it. We will."

Steiner smiled. "Wonderful! I'll leave it up to you, then. Now, I've got to run...Dr. Yates, you have my number, right? Good. I'll see myself out." He walked out of the office without another word and closed the door behind him.

"What the_ fuck!"_ Daryl said. "What's different between just now and the first time he asked?"

"Nothing, I suppose..." Gina said. She had to force herself to look down so she wouldn't stare at Caprica, whom Daryl couldn't see. "We have to try, right? We can't let everything we've already done come to nothing. We'll find a way."

Daryl glared at her for a moment. "You'd have to start working round-the-clock just to get caught up!"

Gina looked at him. "I know. We need to perform a miracle. I have to get to the lab..." She glanced at Caprica. "...but first I need to go to my office. There's some things I need from my safe." She turned to go.

"Well...get a move on!" Daryl called after her. "I need to make some calls!"

Gina trotted through her office door a few minutes later. She wasn't surprised to see both Brittany and Caprica waiting for her. She addressed Brittany first. "Get to the Commissary and tell them our team is moving in. They need to keep food and hot coffee coming around the clock. Then get back to the lab and get everybody into the conference room. Tell them I'll be there as soon as I can."

Brittany just bobbed her head and ran out the door. Gina closed it behind her and turned to Caprica. She was just standing there. Now the smile on her face was friendly and she had her hands behind her back.

"What did I just see?" Gina asked her pointedly.

Caprica shrugged. "A spaceship, according to...what were the names? Ah, NASA and JPL."

"You said my bosses would prove your story."

The smug smile came back. "Well, one of the things we didn't get to tell you was which Cylons settled on Earth. There were no Centurions, no machines. The machines were given he rebels' ship as a reward for their help. They were to go back out into the stars and make their own way."

Gina shook her head. "And _that's_ the ship?"

"I guess with your limited knowledge of events you would call it a Base Star. I guess it kind of looks like a star, doesn't it?"

"Everything you told us was true?"

Caprica took her hands from behind her back. Dangling from one of the were Valerie's canary yellow pumps. She tossed them on Gina's desk and crossed her arms. "Ketchup or mustard?"

"How...how could they have survived so long? Even if they are machines?"

Caprica became serious. "It wasn't without hardship. There were more than three thousand machines in the ship when it left orbit. There are barely four hundred aboard now, and all of them are deteriorating. Most of the ones that were lost were cannibalized to keep the rest going. Now that sacrifice isn't even an option. They need help, Gina. That's why they're coming here."

"Help from _whom?_ Nobody on Earth has the expertise necessary to repair four hundred Cylon machines."

"Except you and your team."

"No! Not 'except'! We can't even finish building the one we've got! I don't know what got into me telling that pencil-neck we could do it in a week!"

"Gina, now that you believe me about your true origins, believe this: We can finish your Cylon with time to spare. All you have to do is trust me and do what I say."

"How can I?"

"In your life you've only attempted to build one Cylon. In my life I've built and maintained hundreds. You can trust me because you've got no choice."

"I still don't see why you want it finished. If we pull this off it will just be deployed against the ones in the ship."

"We can't let that happen. We need Cy for something much more important. He has to be an ambassador."

"A what?"

"The machines aren't going to come down and expect to be welcomed with open arms. They will be cautious, even frightened in their own way. They need someone to tell them the organics they're going to be surrounded by are trustworthy and willing to help. Who better to tell them than another machine?"

"Well, maybe...but I have no way of making that happen. If we do pull this off we'll just have to turn it over to the Generals. I can't force them to have Cy break bread with the enemy."

Caprica sighed at that. "Well, we can decide how to use him once he's complete. Will you let me help you?"

"Yes, all right, I will. Tell me what to do."

Caprica smiled. "Get down to the lab. I've convinced you, but you've got to convince your people."

"You coming?"

"I'll be there."

Gina smiled. "Right. Of course." She turned and hurried out.

* * *

Brittany was just corralling everyone into the conference room as Gina trotted into the lab. she walked in the door as everybody started settling in. Dwayne spotted her and called out: "Hey, Gina, what's up? Brit said we're moving in? What the hell does that mean?"

"It's means our deadline has been moved up...drastically," Gina said. She sat in her customary chair and got right into it. "Everybody settle down and listen. We need to complete Cy in six days."

A few people laughed. Most just looked incredulous. Then everyone scowled when they realized she was serious. "Six days?" Jenny exclaimed.

"No way," Dwayne said, "no_ fucking_ way! It cannot fucking be done!"

"We couldn't even align the targeting system in six days!" Lenny said.

A free-for-all ensued. Everybody in the room registered his or her protest against such a compressed timetable. Gina shook her head and called out: "Listen, listen...LISTEN!" When everyone was quiet: "We don't have a choice. These orders come from the President and Homeland Security. If we don't deliver the Humanoid Combat System in six days the government will void the contract. If we do, we all get early finish bonuses."

Lenny huffed. "That's like promising us World Series tickets if we pull golden eggs out of our asses!"

Gina sighed. "Yes, it is, Len, but it would be like a World Series blackout on cable if we don't at least try to grunt out those eggs." When everybody's faces scrunched up at the metaphor, Gina explained it more directly. "We finish the robot in six days, we get paid extra. We don't finish it, nobody gets anything. That's the deal."

"Who's deal?" Dwayne asked, livid.

"Like I said, the President and Homeland Security."

"I'm not voting for him again..." Jenny muttered.

"Can you at least tell us why we have to defy the laws of Physics and Thermodynamics?" Lenny deadpanned.

"Actually, according to the document I just signed, no, I can't." More vocal protests. Gina raised her hand to silence it. "I didn't say I wouldn't. It's just highly classified. Besides, I don't think you'd believe it anyway." But she told them all that she knew...except for the ship's origins.

There was stunned silence in the room. Jenny broke it with two words. "For real?" Gina nodded.

"An actual alien spaceship?" Lenny said. Gina nodded again.

"In a week?" Dwayne said. Gina nodded once more. Dwayne shook his head. "Damn..."

Lenny shrugged. "Okay, well, even if we were talking about the Galactic Empire sending their finest Star Destroyer to subjugate us, I don't see how one combat robot would make a difference even if we could finish it...which, by the way, we _can't!"_

"He'd be surprised what one Centurion can do," Caprica said from behind her. Gina forced herself not to react.

"Lenny, I understand. It's how I reacted at first, but...we've performed miracles over the years getting this project to this point. I think we can pull off more miracles. We at least have to try. We're going to make this place our home until we do, so call everybody you need to and let them know."

"What do we tell them?" Lenny asked.

"Tell them whatever you want. Tell them the truth. If the government finds out...hell, they can't execute us until we're finished anyway. Do it now, and when that's taken care of we need to review the design to see what needs to be done that can be done in the allotted time."

Everyone started pulling out cell phones. Before Gina could grab hers, Caprica whispered in her ear, "Very good. They respect you and will follow you. That will be key."

"Shaddup," Gina whispered back, then she got up and ducked into the bathroom before dialing Valerie.

* * *

"That's the ticket..." Valerie muttered with a smile. She had just added the finishing touch to a logo design that would be the center of a new campaign proposal for a prospective client. She was sitting in her cubicle at Washington Stellar Graphics and working with Adobe Illustrator on the design being displayed on her large flatscreen monitor. She was about to email the finished product to Amelie, the proposal team leader, when _She's Always A Woman To Me_ started playing from her purse.

Valerie smiled and answered her cell phone. "Now who's interrupting whom at work?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, sorry about that," Gina's voice said. "Listen, Valerie, there's something I have to tell you..."

"Let me guess," Valerie joked, "we weren't hallucinating last night and your bosses really did prove all of it when you got to work."

There was a pause, then Gina said, "Um...yeah."

Val's smile disappeared. "Say what?"

"Look around. Do you see Athena anywhere?"

"No!" She looked around. "I haven't seen her since..." She turned her chair and suddenly found Athena standing behind her. She smiled and waved. Valerie tried not to react to her...or wet herself. "Uh, yeah, she's right here."

"I figured," Gina said. "Caprica's with me. She can probably give you all the details, but the highlight is I won't be coming home."

"Wait, what? You're not coming home tonight?"

"Until I finish the robot."

Valerie turned back and glared at the picture of Gina on her desk. "Gina!"

"I know, sweetie, I know, but I have to stay. The machines are coming back."

"What machines?"

"The ones that were here before. Athena can explain everything, but I need you to do a couple of things for me. I need you to pack some clothes for me, for about a week, and I need you to bring them to Renton."

Valerie, stunned, could only respond, "You have the car..."

"You can take it when you drop off the stuff. I'll clear it at the gate. Will you come?"

"Of course I will..."

"Thank you, sweetie."

"Can I see you when I bring the clothes?"

"No, you'll have to just leave them. I'm really sorry..."

"That's...that's okay. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks again, darling." Gina hung up.

Valerie swung around and glared at Athena. "I know what you're thinking," Athena began, "but it's very..."

Valerie held up a finger to stop her, then got up and raced to Amelie's cubicle. "Valerie, you didn't have to bring it over," Amelie said before turning, "you could just..." The look on Valerie's face stopped her.

"Amelie, I need a couple of huge favors!"

* * *

Soon Amelie's car pulled up in front of Gina and Valerie's house. Valerie jumped out and turned to talk to Amelie. "I'll be five minutes, tops!" Amelie nodded and Valerie turned and ran into the house. She ran all the way up to their bedroom and grabbed the duffel bag she'd packed yesterday. She'd never unpacked it. She did so now by dumping her clothes on the bed, then she started grabbing outfits from Gina's wardrobe and dumping them in. At one point she noticed Athena standing nearby. "Talk," she commanded.

So Athena told her about the Cylon machines, and the base ship, and what she suspected the government's reaction would be when its approach was made evident. "They probably want Gina to finish her Cylon so they have one to intercept the ones that are coming."

"Yeah, great," Valerie said. "That's a perfect example of government thinking. Send one robot to confront a hundred..." She continued packing, then said angrily, "Man, a big old Cylon base ship is coming in a week. Sure would be nice to have a _battlestar_ to meet it. Too bad you let them drive the last one into the sun!"

Athena turned away. "It seemed like a good idea at the time..." she muttered. When she turned back: "And our goal here is to prevent a confrontation. One broken, ancient battlestar won't help you against a ship full of desperate Cylons if they feel they have nothing to lose."

"_I_ have something to lose!" Valerie shot back. "I have sixteen of the best years of my life to lose, and you and your machines are just making things worse!"

"Is that really all you care about? We're trying to save your world!"

"Gina is my world! _Nothing_ is more important to me!" With that she closed the duffel and stalked angrily out of the house with it.

She was gratified to see Amelie was still waiting outside with the car running. She almost felt bad that she had one more favor to ask. She went around to the driver's side window.

"You'd better let me drive there."

* * *

To her credit, Valerie managed not to attract the attention of state troopers as she drove swiftly but steadily on the highway. She had plenty of speeding tickets and moving violations to attest to the fact that this was rarely the case. Of course she knew why. Driving carefully meant she wouldn't have to explain why she was in a hurry:

_"I'm sorry, officer, but I have to get a change of clothes to my girlfriend at the top secret airplane factory because she's building a Cylon for the government so that the government can use it against the other Cylons coming in the spaceship next week, so can you please let me off with a warning?"_

Yep. Better to just drive carefully.

At Ghost Works she pulled in behind a long line of cars at the entry gate. The gate itself was still behind a curve, so Valerie and Amelie couldn't see it from where they were idling. "How long does this usually take?" Amelie asked.

Valerie shook her head. "It's not usually this backed up. They must all be bringing things to people on Gina's team."

Long minutes passed before they rounded the curve enough to see the gate and the guard shack, still several cars in the distance. Valerie had trouble recognizing the guards in their uniforms. Once they got a car-length closer she understood why. The guards were now wearing body armor and combat helmets, and some kind of large weapons were hanging from straps around their shoulders. She couldn't tell what kind of weapons they were. Just that they were much bigger than the pistols she was used to seeing them carry.

Amelie was enthralled by the swift efficiency the guard force displayed while searching the cars. Dogs were involved, trunks and hoods and back seats were searched. One guard pulled a suitcase out of the trunk and disappeared with it into the guard shack, presumably for more searching. She'd never seen anything like it. "How the hell could anyone get to work on time here?"

"Definitely a place for early risers..." Valerie muttered. She noticed that cars that had been searched and relieved of packages were being turned around just inside the gate. There was a small moment of panic as she wondered what that meant for picking up the car.

Finally it was their turn. Valerie drove up to the guard shack and finally recognized the weapon that the guards were sporting. It was one of those guns from SG-1, a P-90. Valerie shivered at the idea of being so close to a real one.

"IDs, ladies!" A guard said through the driver's window. No pleasantries, no flirting, no nonsense.

Valerie turned over her visitor pass. "Where's your license?" She asked Amelie.

Amelie pointed at the visor on the driver's side. "Up there."

Valerie flipped down the visor and found it. She turned that over too. Both IDs immediately disappeared into the guard shack. Amelie was about to protest, but Valerie interrupted. "How do I open the hood and trunk?" Amelie showed her the proper controls. Valerie pressed them, and more guards began their search of the car.

"You have something for Dr. Sexton?" The first guard asked when he returned with the IDs.

"A duffel bag with clothes," Valerie said, "in the back seat."

"Unlock the door," the guard said. Valerie found the door lock controls and complied. Yet another guard opened up, reached in and grabbed the duffel, then off it went into the guard shack.

"Gina...Dr. Sexton said I could pick up our car," Valerie said. "Can I do that?"

"It was just cleared," the guard said. "Who's car is this?"

"It's mine, sir," Amelie said.

The guard nodded and disappeared into the guard shack once more. He came back out with a sticker to place on the windshield. Orange. Not as funny as pink, but Valerie wasn't in a laughing mood right now anyway.

"Okay, listen, you know where the staff lot is?" Valerie nodded. "Go there and find your car, and then you lead your friend out. Do not make any other stops between there and here, and don't take too long, understand?" Valerie nodded again. "Move along."

Valerie drove. Inside the gate she spotted a golf cart with a small flatbed hitched up to it. On the flatbed were several pieces of luggage, including ones she'd seen being taken from other cars. Gina's duffel was tossed unceremoniously onto the pile as Valerie pulled away. She hoped she'd marked the bag clearly enough.

Amelie was stunned. "What was all that about? They acted like we were spies or something! Is it like that every time?"

"No," Valerie said. "This is definitely a higher alert state than I've ever seen. They're probably agitated about something." Of course, she wasn't sure if she could say what that something was...

It was a short trip to the staff parking lot. Valerie drove to the section with reserved spaces and found their car in the third row of them. She locked the brake on Amelie's car and turned to her. "When you follow me out, tailgate. It will make the exit procedures easier." Amelie nodded, then shook her head when Valerie got out.

For once, Valerie cursed her car's keyless entry as she mis-entered the code twice. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was finally behind the wheel, then she started the car and headed immediately back to the gate. She found Amelie hard on her bumper when she checked her mirror.

She stopped at the gate and was confronted by a new guard at the driver's window. "ID?" She turned it over again. The guard examined it, then looked back at Amelie's car. "That your friend?"

"Yes," Valerie said.

"You vouch for her?"

"Yes."

The guard nodded. "Move on." The gate opened and Valerie pulled out, Amelie still close behind. When she was around the bend she gunned it and didn't slow down until she'd been on the highway for a few minutes. State troopers be damned, she had to get away from that place.

She started crying when she realized she had to leave Gina there.

* * *

Millions of miles out in space, slender metal fingers slid into clear fluid lit from beneath by soft red light. The fingers manipulated the fluid and the light, activating status displays. If it were capable, the owner of the fingers would grimace and sigh at the depressing state of the ship's systems. That last jump would indeed be the last without major repairs. There was no where else to go, so the only hope for everyone was that the people of the third planet remembered enough of what their ancestors knew about cybernetic technology. A slim hope of course, but still the only one.

There was, as organics would put it, a bright side. Some of the people down there might be_ family_. If they could be made aware that their relatives, their former allies, needed help, they might make the process of asking the others easier. First, of course, they had to be found.

The slender fingers manipulated the fluid and light once more, sending out a signal...

* * *

In the lab, Gina was working with Lenny and his team to disassemble one of the shoulder assemblies to see if they could make the improvements Gina (ala Caprica) had suggested. They worked swiftly, but quietly, as nothing needed to be said until the work was done. But just then a song popped into Gina's head, and she couldn't help but sing the lyrics softly:

_There must be some way out of here_  
_said the joker to the thief_  
_There's too much confusion,_  
_I can't get no relief_  
_Businessmen, they drink my wine,_  
_plowmen dig my earth_  
_None of them along the line_  
_know what any of it is worth._

* * *

On the highway, Valerie was just starting to compose herself when the same song popped into her head, and with a shaky voice she started singing another verse:

_All along the watchtower_  
_Princes kept the view_  
_While all the women came and went_  
_Barefoot servants, too..._

**TBC...**


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** _Battlestar Galactica and all related characters are the property of Universal Pictures and Syfy Channel and based on the series created by Glen A. Larson. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

* * *

**Review Responses:**

Guest:

"Oh, man I wonder just how many other descendants of Caprica and Athena are hearing this song about now. Oh yes and the descendants of all the Twos and possibly evne Galen Tyrol's are being bugged by that song. Just how many Cylon-Human descendants are out there 150,000 years later out of 7 billion people on this rock?"

Not as many as you'd think. Read on.

Nedy Rahn:

"I like the premise behind Gina's desire to make her own version of a Cylon, but being a follower of the game Traveller myself I think the better thing to do is to make better body armor instead of a robot soldier."

Maybe in traveller, but in the real world there's no such thing as perfect body armor, leaving the person wearing it vulnerable to one thing or another. Gina's mission is to take people off the battlefield.

* * *

The first day and night of round-the-clock work on the Humanoid Combat System didn't go as smoothly as Gina had envisioned. All the teams working on the project were given the task of finding shortcuts that would help to complete their separate parts of the whole. Of course, each team experimented as they went, which caused conflicts while the different teams tried to access Cy's systems simultaneously. This led to screaming matches, at least one fist fight and scores of petitions to Gina to settle the disputes by naming priorities. Meanwhile, the Commissary worked overtime to keep the lab supplied with fresh coffee as she'd asked, but the caffeine just fueled the tension and led to rookie mistakes. When at one point Jenny's team wiped out ten lines of code they'd just written the previous day, Gina called a halt and ordered everyone to crash somewhere and get some sleep. This was a half hour ago, at Two AM. Right now she was the only person in the lab not draped across or over something and snoring away. She found she couldn't sleep, so she was sitting on the floor with her back against one side of Cy's box. She had her eyes closed, so she could only hear Brittany kitten-snoring while slumped against the side of the box to her right. She had promised to stay up until Gina went to sleep, in case she needed anything. It was a promise she'd kept for about four minutes.

Gina contemplated the situation as she rested her eyes. They needed an abbreviated schedule that would get them closer to completing the project while still allowing time for people to get rest, and that had to happen before they even attempted to implement any of the things Caprica said they needed to do. The very idea was daunting. She'd gotten used to the schedule that had already been decided on, followed it as if it were set in stone. Not anymore. That schedule had to be broken and completely retooled.

The hell of it was scheduling should have been the last thing she needed to think about at this point, and at this time of night she didn't want to think about the project at all. She'd expected to be home around 8:00 in the evening so she could have dinner with Val and go to bed, to just be a normal couple after so many weeks of drifting apart.

She found the current situation immensely unfair...

* * *

She wasn't going to go to sleep. Valerie finally had to admit this to herself about ten minutes ago, after she'd been sitting up in bed for four hours waiting for a phone call she knew intellectually wouldn't come. Gina wasn't coming home - and that phrase ate at her like something physical and feral, though a tiny bit of her conscious mind hoped against hope that the phrase was untrue, thus the waiting to hear an old Billy Joel song in the wee hours of the morning.

But she wasn't going to hear it, at least not for a few nights, and she had to go to work in the morning and start making up for the time she'd cost her team on the their project._ All this worrying about work's going to turn me into Gina,_ she thought, then she trudged down to the kitchen in a t-shirt and panties and tried to decide whether to make cocoa or chamomile tea. Cocoa won out when she found they still had some tiny marshmallows.

She took her cocoa to the living room and sat down on the couch to drink it. She thought about turning on the TV, its vast blankness beckoning, but decided to wait until after she'd finished the cocoa. As she sipped she wondered what Gina was doing at this moment. Was she calibrating a diode or screwing in a transistor, or something else that involved Valerie's ridiculously limited knowledge of computers? ("Me press button, computer light up!")

Or was Gina sitting somewhere and thinking about her?

Valerie sighed. If only she could know...

* * *

"You're doing fine," Gina heard herself say. She wasn't shocked to realize it wasn't "thinking out loud" or an inner voice. She sighed at how quickly acceptance had come before opening her eyes and looking left.

This time she was mildly surprised to see herself sitting on the floor next to her. Not just her in a bad 'do and slutty dress, but an actual Gina 2.0 with the ponytail and the light make-up. Her clothes were different. She was wearing a kind of light blue smock over dark slacks and a tank top. The smock had a patch on the shoulder. It said "Integral Systems Engineering." Gina assumed it was some kind of Colonial contractor.

"What's with the look?" Gina asked.

Gina 2.0 shrugged. "I just thought you might be more comfortable with me this way."

Gina looked away and closed her eyes again. "Yeah...good luck with that..."

"Fine. Better?"

Gina turned and looked. Caprica was back, hair, slut-dress and all.

Gina looked away. "It'll do."

* * *

Valerie wondered if it was okay to be rude to the presence that just sat next to her on the couch. She was sure it wasn't just going to go away, so she could either be rude and act like there was nothing there or be polite and offer some cocoa. Ultimately, she decided that polite would be less stressful, so she turned to her left and asked, "Want some cocoa?"

"No, thank you," Athena said with a friendly smile.

Valerie's eyes narrowed. "Can you even drink cocoa? Or anything? What exactly are you?"

"I could drink cocoa if I wanted to but I'm not thirsty now, and what I am is...complicated."

Valerie huffed and turned away. "Sure...keep your secrets..."

"There's lots of things I can tell you. Just ask."

* * *

"I'm really a Cylon?" Gina asked.

Caprica looked up and held out her hands. "Halleluia. She finally sees. Yes, Gina, you are a Cylon."

"How is that even possible after the original Cylons died out so long ago?"

"They didn't die out completely. It's what we tried to explain to you last night. Every human being on Earth is part Cylon, but also part Native Human and part Colonial Human. Nobody notices their Cylon traits because usually they're buried by two sets of Human traits, so 99 percent of the babies born here are born Human. And yet, every few generations, for reasons we don't fully understand, the Cylon traits manage to be fully dominant. When that happens, a baby is born that is mostly Cylon, which is great...but there's a catch."

* * *

"All the Cylon Humanoids were clones," Athena said. "Twelve models, lots of identical copies, which means the Cylon part of Human physiology is missing a key element: genetic diversity. So when that strain of Cylon DNA manages to be dominant all it can produce is a baby that's a physical copy of a Cylon model that's contributed to the total gene pool."

"So...I was born a physical copy of Cylon Humanoid Model Eight..." Valerie said.

Athena grinned. "Exactly. We call it 'Genetic Resurrection.'"

"And it doesn't happen that often?"

"Not very, and it only happens within a small number of family lines. For instance, have you ever been told that there was someone in your family history that you look exactly like?"

"Sure. When I was kid my Grandma on my mother's side used to tell me she knew what I would look like when I grew up because I looked exactly like what _her_ grandmother looked like in pictures taken when she was a kid."

"There you go."

"There I go...but similarities like that happen in families all the time. That doesn't make the people Cylon."

"Actually it does. Close family resemblances, identical twins...these are manifestations of Cylon genes trying to assert themselves. There were no twins in the Colonies. That's a big reason why Humanoid Cylon Infiltrators kept getting their covers blown."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you don't just look like your grandmother's grandmother. I'm saying that if your DNA and fingerprints could be compared you'd be identified as the _same person._ That wouldn't even happen with normal twins."

Valerie thought about that for a moment. "You mean...my great great grandmother was a Cylon?"

"Yep."

Valerie sipped her cocoa. "Sounds like a SyFy movie of the week."

* * *

"Okay, but you said Valerie and I were special," Gina said. "Is it just because we're these 'genetic resurrections?'"

"No," Caprica said, "of course there's more to it, like the fact that you're the same age. You were born the same year, right?"

Gina nodded. "Our birthdays are a few months apart."

"As rare as a genetic resurrection is, to have two in the same generation, born so close to each other, is almost unheard of."

"So...because we're so close in birth date?"

"And birth_place_. Two resurrections at the same time in the same country is amazing."

Gina chuckled. "Well it's not like we shared a bassinet in the hospital. Valerie was born in Hawaii. I was born in West Virginia."

Caprica smirked. "And the last time I checked Google Maps both places were in the same country which, as I said, makes it amazing."

"Okay fine, so we're the same age and both US citizens and that makes us special..."

"And so does the fact that you found each other to spend your lives with."

Gina rolled her eyes. "And you were doing so well...what the hell could that possibly have to do with anything? We didn't 'find' each other, like in some silly romance novel. We went to the same university and got assigned to the same dorm room."

"Right. Two Cylons born seven time zones apart happen to meet in the middle of the country, end up together and commit their lives to each other and you think that's some big cosmic accident?"

"Well, what do you say it was? 'The Hand of GOD?'"

* * *

"God, fate, serendipity, call it what you want," Athena said. "I'm just saying it was more than the luck of the draw behind you becoming roommates."

Valerie was giggling. "Not_ much_ more. I went to Texas A&M because my family was living in California and I hated California, so I wanted to go to school in another state far away, but not so far I couldn't drive to Mexico on spring break. And Gina went there because her father was being transferred to an air base in Florida and she didn't want to live with her parents in base housing."

"You can't see that as the universe conspiring to bring you together?"

"That's a pretty elaborate conspiracy to bring two dykes together for no good reason..."

"Bringing you together _was_ the reason. Today you chewed me out because I was more concerned about the world than Gina, and it seems like Gina is one step away from despair if she's kept away from you for too long. There's something about each one of you that the other desperately needs in this life. Maybe something buried deep in your Cylon genes." She turned a little sad. "They were always looking for love of some kind." She forced herself to cheer up. "So, I dunno, maybe it's your Cylon midichlorians..."

"Midichlorians? Really? You went there?"

"Maybe your Cylon natures sought out the only other person on Earth that could satisfy their need for love."

* * *

"I don't buy it," Gina said. "God sets this huge plan in motion just to get Valerie and me together?"

"No, not 'just,'" Caprica said. "You've been together for so long that you're together_ now_, when more Cylons are in desperate need of help. You can help them. Valerie can support you while you do. I see that now...and I have no problem believing that God had a hand in that."

"Whatever. I'll go with lesbianism and good timing."

Caprica huffed and levered herself up off the floor. "Whatever gets you through the night..." She started walking to the lab door.

"Wait!" Gina said. Caprica stopped but didn't turn. "Could you give me just one straight answer, without the mystery or the religious fervor? When the machines get here, where will they land? This seems like an awful lot to go through if they're going to set down in Uruguay or something."

Caprica turned her head to answer. "I told you earlier. They're not going to just set down anywhere and trust any Human. They're going to try to find people they'll feel comfortable with and seek help from them. In other words, they'll land wherever they can find Humanoid Cylons.

"And right now, the greatest concentration of Humanoid Cylons on Earth lives in a little house in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington. Which means, 'sweetheart,' they ain't landing in Uruguay."

Gina's eyes went wide as the implications hit her. "Mother_fucker!_"

"Who're you talking to?" Brittany said sleepily. Gina looked to her right and found Brittany had scooted around the corner of the box and was looking up at her with dreamy eyes. She turned again and found Caprica had disappeared.

She muttered a curse and said, "Nobody, Brit. Just myself. Go back to sleep."

"No, I'll stay up with..." Gina caught her head before it hit the hard floor and rested the snoring intern down gently. With that done, she tried to figure out how in the hell she would relay that last bit of intelligence to those who would need to know.

* * *

The days passed with less controversy and violence. After everyone's nap the first night Gina had come up with a schedule that ironed out most of the problems with fast-tracking Cy's completion. The team slept in shifts, ate sandwiches and pita pockets as they worked and accomplished feats of mechanical engineering that nobody thought possible (Even Gina thought the ideas were highly suspect as she relayed them from Caprica). Progress was amazingly rapid, but they still skirted with missing the deadline.

And so it was, with the minutes on the sixth day ticking away to the beginning of the seventh, Cy was standing in the center of the lab as Jenny's people ran a full systems diagnostic. Everyone else was in varying stages of wakefulness. Gina sat drowsily in a chair near Cy. She noted that the lab hadn't qualified as a "clean room" for days. Though everyone had gotten a change of clothes before diving in there were no showers, so getting their bodies clean required imagination and sometimes a sacrifice of modesty. The results were hardly perfect. Most of the men had beards, and the air smelled generally like an active gym with decent air conditioning.

Gina was just starting to drift off when Jenny said aloud, "Holy shit..."

Most of the people who were awake groaned as they anticipated the worst. "I quit," Lenny said. "This was the _definition_ of a 'fool's errand.'"

"What's wrong, Jen?" Gina asked.

Jenny shook her head at her. "You don't understand. The diagnostic shows that Cy's systems are operating at 98.96% peak efficiency, and the malfunctions causing the shortfall are already being bypassed by his self-repair systems. I meant 'Holy shit, we _DID IT!'"_

The cheers that erupted after that woke up anybody that was still sleeping. Handshakes and hugs were traded all around. Only Gina was silent. Though she was grinning, she wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth. "Quiet down! Hey, quiet down, everybody!" When the space was quiet she stood in front of Cy and looked up at him. "How are you feeling, Cy?"

Several appropriate responses filtered through Cy's conversational sub-routine, but when he looked down at Gina, he remembered in the depths of his CPU the way she greeted him every morning since he came on line, and decided she would only be satisfied with one response. "I-Feel-_Perfect!"_

Gina laughed out loud as the cheering started again. This time she let it go for a little while, before she remembered other people needed to know. "Shit! Brittany! Call Daryl and tell him the HCS ready! We just have to armor him up!"

"On it, Boss!" Brittany said as she whipped out her cell phone.

"Dwayne, let's get the armor team in here ASAP! Oh...and let's put him in the _special_ armor!"

That quieted the place down. "Are you sure?" Dwayne asked. "We really just made that as a goof."

"We didn't expect to use it on the final product," Jenny said.

"I'm not sure it will be much protection," Lenny said.

"I know all that," Gina said, "and none of it matters. Cy's going to represent Earth to visitors from another time and place." She shrugged. "He ought to look his best."

Dwayne laughed. "Okay...special armor it is."

The armor team arrived in minutes and as she had done countless times before, Gina watched every step of the armoring process. The difference was the armor itself. Instead of forest green or "chocolate chip" desert camouflage pieces, she watched as shiny black armor pieces were used to cover the endoskeleton's limbs, and as black boots and gauntlets were added, and then as shiny, silver-plated cuffs, shoulder guards and wrist guards were secured. A massive silver chest-plate and back pack cover completed the major assembly. Gina held her breath as the final piece - a helmet inspired by those of Roman Legionaries - was lowered onto Cy's head and secured in place. Gina marveled at the smooth curve of the ridge at the top of the helm, and grinned as the little red light swept back and forth inside the eyeslit - now at the proper speed - and said "woo-woo" for all to hear. The final touch came when the armor team added pieces to Cy's primary Squad Automatic Weapon so that it looked more like the weapon he would have carried were he chasing Starbuck and Apollo across a Universal Studios soundstage decades ago.

Just as Cy was being handed his weapon, Brittany came up to Gina. "Boss, Dr. Yates said a National Guard helicopter is on its way here so that we can deploy Cy from here to anywhere we need to."

Gina nodded. "We'll go out and meet it. Everybody, we're taking Cy out to the ramp!" She looked up at Cy. "Ready?"

Cy nodded. "I-Am-Ready."

In the early minutes of the seventh day, the Final Integration Team for the Humanoid Combat System Project exited through the main doors of Hangar 18 at the Ghost Works facility in Renton, Washington, with Dr. Gina Sexton leading them out...and with the tall, gleaming figure of Earth's first Cylon Centurion walking in step right beside her.

**TBC...**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** _Battlestar Galactica and all related characters are the property of Universal Pictures and Syfy Channel and based on the series created by Glen A. Larson. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

* * *

Gina's team was making last minute checks and adjustments on Cy while they waited for the helicopter. Gina had walked away from the group and was pacing at a distance. As she strode back and forth on the ramp, Jenny noticed she was talking to herself. She pointed this out to Lenny.

Lenny shrugged. "This thing's more her baby than anyone else's. I'm not surprised she's nervous about deploying it."

They couldn't know, of course, that Gina was actually talking to Caprica. "They can't land in Seattle! I can't let them near Valerie if anything goes wrong!"

"Nothing will go wrong if you make sure your Centurion won't be used for anything aggressive," Caprica said.

"And for the billionth time, I'm not sure I can make that happen!" She thought for a moment. "Maybe Valerie can sneak out of the city without panicking anybody...ah, who am I kidding? Valerie would want to take her favorite server from SBC along with everybody else she's friends with if I told her aliens were invading. Wait...of course! We'll just have them land somewhere else!"

"How?"

"Whaddya mean, 'how?' We'll tell them they'll get help if they land somewhere!"

"How will you communicate with them?"

"Me? You're going to do it!"

"ME?"

"Yes, you! You've been invading my dreams and waking nightmares for months! Are you saying you can't materialize yourself onto a spaceship and get a bunch of wind-up toys to do your bidding?"

"Gina, it's not that simple..."

"Make it that simple! Do whatever you have to! Please!"

Caprica frowned as she thought about it, then sighed. "Where would you like them to land?"

Now Gina was lost in thought. It only took a minute or two before she had an insight. "Yakima!"

Caprica winced. _"Yakima?"_

"What, are you gonna quibble? It's in the same state! It's just not in the middle of downtown where Valerie works! Can you do it or not?"

Caprica raised her hands in surrender and disappeared.

"Here it comes!" Lenny called out. Gina heard it before turning to see a CH-47 Chinook approach from the North. She was glad to see the big twin-rotor transport. Cy just might fit inside the cargo area. A smaller chopper would have to lift him from a sling below the fuselage.

She trotted back over to where Cy and the others were standing. "We still good?"

"Still good," Dwayne said. "He just passed one more quick diagnostic and Jenny's team managed to track down one of the glitches and repair it."

"This thing's as ready as it will ever be," Lenny said. "Bring on the Xenomorphs!"

Jenny shot him a confused look. "What the hell is a xenomorph?"

Lenny shrugged. "What? You've never seen _Alien_?"

"No, because I have _standards_."

"You say that now, but when that facehugger's shoving his woohoo down your throat you'll wish you had prior knowledge."

Jenny just rolled her eyes as Lenny chuckled.

Gina risked an important question. "What if they're friendly aliens?"

"Define 'friendly,'" Dwayne said.

"Well, it's possible - though incredibly unlikely - that they're xenomorphs, but isn't it also possible that they've come with peaceful motives?"

"Like what?" Lenny said.

"Well, maybe they want to give us some sort of gift. Or maybe they need our help."

"Okay, I'll bite," Dwayne said. "In either case, wouldn't they have tried to contact us about it by now to let us know that's all they want, so that we're not panicked into completing superweapons, just like what just happened?"

"I suppose so, but..." Gina stopped as the sound of the flaring helicopter drowned out anything else. The Chinook landed on the runway near the lab, more gently than Gina expected, given its size. She and the others hung back until the rotors stopped turning, then walked over with Cy to the rear of the aircraft. The cargo bay doors were was just swinging open as they approached.

Warrant Officer Ken Saunders, the flight engineer, left the cockpit and arrived aft in time to see four people in lab coats standing by the loading ramp. "Better stand back," the tall blonde called to him. "He needs to sit in the exact center."

Saunders complied, but thought _Who he?_ as he stood aside. His answer came in the form of heavy footfalls approaching the loading ramp, followed by the appearance of a tall, gleaming figure, which had to crouch down before thudding heavily aboard. Saunders' eyes went wide as recognition set in, and widened further when its head turned toward him and the bright red eye swept back and forth in his general direction. It kept going until it reached the center of the cargo deck, then dropped to a crossed-leg sitting position, holding his weapon pointed down like a human soldier.

Saunders turned to stare at the people in lab coats as they followed the big guy aboard. He jerked his thumb at the guy and asked the tall blonde, "Is that what I think it is?"

She smiled. "Yep."

"And it's on our side?"

She nodded. "So far..."

He turned for one last look and said, "Fuckin' A!" He turned back to the blonde, Gina. "We're going to fly up to Lewis-McChord and meet up with the 81st Brigade, then deploy from there to wherever we need to go. You comin' with?"

"Have to. We need to make sure it does its job in the field."

Saunders nodded and folded down some seats near Cy. "Okay, Doc," He said to Gina. "Have a seat and strap in. We'll get moving in a couple of minutes." With that he maneuvered around Cy and headed back to the cockpit, where his first words to the pilot and co-pilot were, "Yo, man, that Galactica shit is _real!_"

The pilot, Captain Alexander Goldstein, cocked an eyebrow at Saunders. "You been drinkin' again, Saunders?"

Saunders sucked his teeth. "'Have I been drinkin' again!' Y'know that top-secret weapon system they told us to come get? It's a fuckin' _Cylon_, man! _That's_ how I've been drinkin' again! They reverse engineered a fuckin' Cylon!"

"No way," Goldstein said.

"What's a Cylon?" The co-pilot, Lieutenant Tommy Dan, was never a fan of American sci-fi.

Saunders pointed aft. "See for yourself, lieutenant!"

So Goldstein and Dan leaned over and looked aft. The big gleaming form was unmistakable sitting in the center of the cargo bay.

"No fucking way!" Goldstein said.

"That's a Cylon?" Dan said. "I thought that was something from the A-Team!"

"That's bullshit!" Goldstein said. "If Galactica is real then where the hell is it? It's like a big ass aircraft carrier!"

"Stealth, man!" Saunders said emphatically. "Apollo and Starbuck came down and gave us stealth when they got to Earth!"

Gina watched the exchange between the flight crew from the distance of the bay and imagined what they were saying to each other about Cy. She had just decided not to ask about it when Saunders came back to the cargo area with headsets for everybody. After distributing them he found a seat and strapped himself in.

As the Chinook's engines started up, Dwayne decided to test his headset by continuing the earlier conversation. "What were you going to say?"

It took a second for Gina to realize he was talking to her. "What?"

"When we were talking about the aliens needing help..."

Gina nodded. "Well, what if they wanted to contact us but their methods of communication are so advanced or so...alien that we couldn't interpret the message even if they sent it?"

"That just leaves us back at square one. If we can't interpret a message for help then we're left preparing for every contingency. Either they're aggressive or desperate, but we don't know which until the encounter happens."

"I suppose you're right," Gina said, depressed. If she couldn't convince her own people to have an open mind, how could she convince a total stranger with stars on his shoulder?

"Speaking of encounters," Jenny said, "Gina, did they give you an idea of exactly when this UFO is going to enter Earth orbit?"

Gina shrugged. "The Homeland Security guy didn't go into detail. He just said it would be sometime today or tomorrow."

* * *

Actually, it would be seven hours and forty minutes from that moment. A quick burst of thrust helped to speed up the timetable at the expense of all but the ship's reserve fuel. It had been deemed worth the risks. Moments before, one of the Sixes appeared in the control center and confirmed the presence of family, humanoids willing to help machines in need. A landing would have to be made. A cold red eye focused on the scrolling holo-screen above the control station, acquiring geographic and political data. The city of Yakima, in the section called Washington in the nation known as The United States of America. The red eye turned from the screen to focus on the Six.

"Yes, it's very Caprican of them, isn't it?" Caprica said, no trace of irony in her voice. "To build, to expand, to progress, sometimes without thinking. Americans seem to excel at that, but they can also be charitable and welcoming, and Gina was raised as one of them. You can trust her. She'll do her best to help you." The eye moved down fractionally. "Of course. Self-defense is the right of all sentient beings. I only ask you to consider the position she's in. She only learned of her heritage very recently, and aside from her lover no one else knows about our shared history. You should keep that in mind if something goes wrong. We're strangers to most of them. Please...give them a chance to adjust to your return."

Her plea was met with a more visible nod, then the eye returned to the screen while fingers moved in the control tank. There were few functioning Raiders left, but all of them were eager for any kind of mission. One would be sufficient. It would be sent to scout out landing sites.

A moment later a Raider was ejected from its rail mount on the exterior of the base ship. Its engines screamed to life and it streaked off ahead of the ship. Once it gained some distance and settled down to a steady delta vee it scanned the blue-white planet up ahead. Hundreds of objects showed up on DRADIS in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Most were satellites of one type or another. Only a few were big enough to hold humanoids, and only one qualified as an orbital habitat. The most significant thing was the absence of battlestars. The Raider felt this was important enough to relay back to the ship immediately. It was hard to hide a battlestar, but not impossible. If that's what the Earth people were doing now, they were hiding their warships awfully well.

Still, the Raider received no challenge on wireless and any battlestars that might be in the system were staying hidden, so the tactical craft pressed on, listening to electronic communications as it traveled, weeding out personal and business transmissions until it had isolated what had to be military signals. The encrypted signals were easily translated. No doubt their users considered them unreadable, but it was obvious that their knowledge of computer systems was much less advanced than that of the Twelve Colonies. The Raider wondered idly if the Colonials that settled here would have given up all technology if they'd known future generations would advance so slowly. Then it gave a mental shrug and began to search through military databases. No battlestars at all, then. In fact, nothing the raider would consider a real spacecraft, one capable of carrying humans to other planets or systems. After that, the biggest threats to its mission, Earth's fighter planes, were barely capable of supersonic speeds, and none were able to fly in space at all.

If the Raider could smile it would have grinned. This would be easy.

As it got closer to the planet it adjusted course slightly and ended up doing one close orbit, then it entered the atmosphere, descended at hypersonic speed and leveled off just over the city called Washington, DC (noting briefly that it would be traveling from one place called Washington to another and speculating on what kind of person this Washington was). That made the military chatter ramp up considerably. Patrol fighters already in the air were sent immediately to find out what had just descended over the capital. The Raider turned due West and proceeded at a relative snail's pace just to see what the competition was like in the air.

It was soon confronted by two sleek, single-seat fighters with several missiles suspended from various parts of their airframes. The Raider checked the information it had just obtained and found they were called F-16 Falcons. They were flying in a close formation and trying to get ahead of it. The Raider paid close attention as one of the pilots tried to make contact:

"Unidentified aircraft, this is the United States Air Force aircraft coming up on your Four O'Clock. You have entered restricted air space. Alter your heading immediately to zero-nine-zero and proceed out of the restricted zone. If you do not comply you will be shot down."

The Raider checked its heading and altered course, but only enough to head it more directly toward Yakima, Washington. After that it put on a negligible burst of speed...

...which made it look to the F-16 pilots like the "unidentified aircraft" turned into a gray streak headed west. The lead pilot cursed and reported to his control. "Ramrod, this is Blackjack Lead! We lost him! He's just gone, man!"

* * *

Aboard "Ramrod," the AWACS aircraft responsible for monitoring this sector of U.S. air space, a controller pointed to his monitor and reported to his commander, "Barely got him! At this speed he'll be out of our range in a matter of seconds!"

"Hand him over to Castle," the commander said. "We gotta start putting planes in front of this guy!"

* * *

"Castle," the next AWACS in the chain, did just that. "Let's vector Wildcard and Caspar into its path!" The commander there said. "I want 'em locked and cocked!"

* * *

The Raider continued to listen as it flew, paying close attention to the voices of the pilots and controllers, being amused by the silly call signs they assigned themselves (just like the Colonials!) and noting the pairs and quartets of fighter aircraft attempting to intercept it in flight. The Earth people were reacting quickly, but its transit was simply too fast. It reached Yakima without incident.

Only then did it slow back down to a snail's pace so that it could take a good look at the city. Yakima was small. It hardly compared to a Caprican city. In fact, it would hardly be considered a suburb of a Caprican city. Normally, landing here would seem counterproductive, but it and the other Cylons in the base ship were taking the word of the Six. There would be family in Yakima, so here is where they must land. Now it was just a matter of finding a suitable place.

There were a few parks in Yakima. The Raider took up an orbit over the largest. According to its research this one was called Franklin Park. It had more than enough room to land a Heavy Raider and ample open space for a meeting with the locals.

The Raider was just about to report this to the base ship when several fighters finally caught up. They closed to within weapons range as it circled over the racetrack and looked them up in its database. There were eight in all: four F-15s and four F-18s, closing on it from opposite sides.

The pilot of one of the F-15s contacted it. "Unidentified aircraft, this is your last warning! You are in restricted air space! If you do not remove yourself immediately you will be fired upon!"

Even with these numerical odds, a dogfight would be suicidal on the Earth peoples' part, which is exactly why the Raider was under strict orders not to engage any local combatants. Remembering that, it gave a mental shrug and did as the Earth pilot required...just not in the way the Earth pilot expected. The Raider angled itself straight up and streaked all the way out of the atmosphere.

The lead Eagle pilot was dumbfounded. He'd just gotten a good lock-on tone when the craft practically disappeared. "Sovereign, Haze Lead," he said, "no joy! Target has gone evasive and is out of range!"

"Way the hell outta range!" Another pilot chimed in. "E.T.'s goin' home!"

"Did you see that shit?" another pilot said on the flight circuit. "It had a face! That thing had _a face!"_

* * *

Warrant Officer Saunders went forward to get some news from the cockpit, then came back to deliver it to the passengers. "Change of plans," he told them. "We're diverting to Yakima. The 81st is going to meet us there."

"Yakima?" Lenny said. "What the fuck's in Yakima?"

"Beats me," Saunders said. "All they told us was to get to Yakima and land you in Franklin Park."

_"What_ park?" Gina asked.

"And why in Yakima?" Lenny wondered aloud again.

"It makes sense," Jenny answered. "We're talking about aliens, right? Yakima's supposed to be a big UFO hotspot."

"You go around knowing where UFO hotspots are?" Wayne said to her.

"And Yakima's one of them?" Lenny said, still stuck on their destination.

_Yes it is,_ Gina thought, _that's why I picked it._ "Look, did they tell you why they want you to land us in a park in Yakima?"

Saunders shook his head. "No, ma'am. Like I said , they just want us to get you there."

"Ours is not to reason why..." Jenny sighed.

"I hate the rest of that saying," Lenny moaned.

"Me too, Doc," Saunders said. "Landing in forty!"

* * *

"Earth to Valerie."

Valerie blinked as the sound of Stephanie's voice snapped her out of her daydreams, which were filled with scenes of Gina trapped in a fortress, hordes of giant, rabid Cylon Centurions and at least one shot of Apollo and Starbuck wetting themselves in fear - _Gee, thanks for_ that _image, sweetie!_ - and brought her back to the meeting she and the others were having in the conference room at work. "I'm sorry. What were we talking about?"

Stephanie grinned. "We were imagining what Gina looks like horny and naked, and you were about to clear things up for us!"

Valerie just stared at her for the longest time, then said, "Could you just rent a hooker and satisfy your curiosity already?"

Amelie chuckled but this time didn't join in. "All right, but we were asking about Gina. Have you heard from her at all?"

Val shook her head. "Not since last week. I've been worried sick since I left her in Renton."

"I'm not surprised," Amelie said, "with all those guns and dogs all over the place! Did I tell you about all that security they had there?"

"You told us," Stephanie and Michelle said in unison. In fact, aside from their project Amelie had talked about little else the past week. Valerie knew for a fact that some of her tales were exaggerated, but she left Amelie to it, reasoning that the resulting conversations about police states and civil rights distracted them from thinking too much about the reason for the heightened security.

Of course, it didn't always work. "What I don't get is, if there's some impending terrorist attack or something isn't the government supposed to tell us about it?" Michelle said.

"Yeah," Stephanie said, "there's supposed to be some kind of colored alert status, like Chartreuse Alert, or Magenta Alert, right?"

Valerie regarded her strangely for a moment, then said, "Um...yeah, something like that, but they wouldn't whip that out unless the threat was aimed at civilians." Probably. She wasn't sure. In fact, she wasn't sure if there was a color that actually covered the real threat. Silver Alert? Little Red Light Alert? Woo-woo Alert? She dropped her head on the conference table and moaned at the absurdity of the situation.

Then someone rapped on the door three times and barged in. Val straightened up to see who it was. It was Doug, another friend and San Diego Comic Con travel buddy in years when Gina couldn't go with her. She smiled a little and said to him, "Hey, Doug, what's..."

He ignored her and headed straight for the small podium at the far end of the room. It had the controls for the large flatscreen display mounted in the far wall. He used them to remove the project sketches that were currently being displayed.

"Hey!" Amelie called out, but it was all she could say before what must have been everybody on staff piled into the conference room. The not-huge space got crowded real quick. Amelie stood and sought Mike, the office manager. When she found him she pushed her way through the mass of bodies until she was next to him. "Mike," she said, "what the hell's going on? My team has this room till ten thirty!"

Mike's attention was on the screen. "Sorry, Amelie, but this room has the biggest monitor in the office and wireless access. Doug! Get the volume up!"

"On it!"

Amelie was exasperated. "Mike!"

Mike finally looked at her. "Amelie, you don't know what's going on. Doug just found the story on the KING5 website."

"What story? Mike...!"

"Am, wouldja just _watch?"_

Amelie huffed and turned toward the screen and found herself watching a KING5 News correspondent on live streaming video. When Doug brought the volume up, everyone could hear him as well. "...Air Force and Air National Guard units attempted to intercept the craft, but it was moving much too fast. It was last seen headed into space from here, as we saw in that incredible video earlier." The video came up again, shunting the reporter to a smaller window. The main screen displayed a gray, hawk-winged object pivoting in mid-air and streaking straight up. The video was typical of the raw type shot with someone's phone camera. This was confirmed by the accompanying sound of people gasping and chattering about what they'd seen.

But nothing beat the sound that the object made as it sped into space. It screamed, a high-pitched, electronic scream.

"Since then units of the Yakima Police Department and Washington State Police have evacuated and closed off the park and helicopters have brought in a stream of National Guard troops, and more are on the way in vehicles. There's been no comment on these events from these or any government agencies in response to our requests, but make no mistake, what's been witnessed here today is nothing short of extraordinary, and we'll continue to bring you updates as the story unfolds."

The monitor went to a split screen so that the anchor could ask the correspondent questions while in the correspondent's background helicopters continued to descend, loiter and take off, presumably to offload cargo and people and take off for a new load. While they talked the office staff watched the screen and talked about what was happening. Valerie ignored them. Her eyes were fixed on the crawl at the bottom of the screen. "UFO BUZZES THE UNITED STATES," it said. "AIR DEFENSE PLANES PURSUE BUT CANNOT SHOOT IT DOWN. TOWN IN WASHINGTON STATE FOCUS OF MILITARY PREPARATIONS. PRESIDENT AND GOVERNOR URGE CALM AND PROMISE DECISIVE ACTION..."

Doug's voice drew Val's attention. "Holy shit, this is real," he said. "We're being invaded!"

"God, I hope not..." Valerie muttered.

"Valerie!" Amelie said. "This must be what that alert was about! The government must have known the aliens were coming and wanted Gina to finish whatever she's building quickly!"

"That," Valerie said, "is a safe assumption."

"You know what I don't get?" Stephanie said. "Why Yakima? What the fuck's in Yakima?"

"It is a UFO hotspot," Michelle offered.

"But what's in Yakima that the UFOs could want?"

"Hey! I'm from Yakima!" Someone called out indignantly.

"Okay," Stephanie said, "so what do you have that the Little Grays want?"

The guy blinked. "Um, well...Franklin Park has some nice tennis courts…"

Mercifully someone else changed the subject. "Should we be going home or evacuating or something?"

"Evacuate where?" Someone else said. "That thing flew across the country in a couple of minutes! Suppose there are a hundred or a thousand? We're screwed!"

"Wait, calm down," Valerie said, "it was one little ship! It's not like it's the end of the world!"

"You think it's not?" Somebody else said. "That was just a scout ship! It's a little probe flying over the highway and the mother ship is hiding behind Devil's Tower!"

"Wait...so the aliens are from Wyoming?" Michelle asked.

"Never seen _Close Encounters?"_ Doug said.

"Is that one of those Syfy movies?"

Before Doug could explain a movie released almost twenty years before Michelle was born, Amelie called out, "Look at that!"

Everyone's attention went back to the screen. The KING5 camera had shifted to a different angle. They were now able to show that the helicopters were landing in the middle of the park's jogging track. One of the big ones had just landed and lowered its ramp. While the correspondent resumed his commentary a handful of people walked down the ramp and waited for someone else to come out. Four of them were wearing lab coats.

"We're not sure what's going on," the correspondent said. "It doesn't look like it's carrying...wait, someone else is coming out...oh my...do you see this? I'm not exactly sure what we're seeing…"

"Holy shit!" Doug said.

"It's a Cylon!" Stephanie said. "It's an actual goddamn _Cylon!"_

"That's gotta be a guy in a suit!" Someone else said.

"He's too tall!" Someone else protested.

"What's a Cylon?" Michelle asked.

"From Battlestar Galactica!" Stephanie said. Michelle shook her head. "Battlestar Galactica?" Michelle shook her head again. "The father from Bonanza's the captain?" Michelle shook her head again. "How_ young_ are you?"

Amelie was focused on something else. "Valerie! One of those scientists looks a little like Gina! What do you think?" No response. She turned her head and said, "Valerie?"

At that moment, Valerie was closing herself into a stall in the women's bathroom and hitting the  
"Gina" contact on her phone's display.

* * *

Gina and the others were guiding Cy away from the helicopter when_ Hawaii 5-0_ sounded from her pants pocket. She cursed silently and pulled out her phone, then put on a huge smile before answering sweetly, "Hi, darling."

"Tell me you are _not_ in Yakima with that Cylon waiting for the other Cylons to land on you!" It was obvious that Valerie was talking through clenched teeth.

Gina took a deep breath and said even more sweetly, "Darling, I'm nowhere near Yakima…"

"I JUST SAW YOU ON THE_ NEWS,_ YOU LYING BITCH!" Valerie screamed in her ear.

Gina switched the phone to the other ear and said, "Okay, yes, I'm in Yakima, but I didn't have any choice…"

"Yes you do!" Valerie said. "You can choose to get your skinny ass back to Seattle right now before the Centurions land and burn the place to the ground!"

Gina slowed her pace and whispered into the phone. "That's exactly what I'm trying to prevent, Val! I have to be here to try and use Cy as an ambassador to the machines like Caprica said!"

_"Fuck_ Caprica! She's an insane ancient alien with a bleaching addiction! I want you home and I want you safe and I want you away from that park when the machines get there!"

"Darling, think...if the machines decide they want to destroy us once and for all, what makes you think they'll stop with Yakima?"

There was silence on the phone, then Valerie said, "Okay, you might have a point…"

"Val, I have to try. If I can help save lives with what I do here today, it would be irresponsible for me to run away."

More silence, then, "Fine, I'm coming out there."

"No! Stay right where you are! I don't want you here!"

"If the Cylons decide to kill us it doesn't matter where I am, right?"

Gina thought about it. "I did just say that, didn't I?"

"Hey Gina, you comin'?" Dwayne's voice called to her. She'd fallen far behind.

"Look, Val, I've gotta go. Don't do anything, okay? Just stay there and watch on TV!" She hung up.

* * *

"And she hung up on me again," Valerie muttered as she clicked off and opened the stall door…

...and found Michelle standing in front of her. She looked nervous.

"How long have you been standing there?" Val asked.

Michelle shrugged. "Amelie sent me to find you and see if you were all right. She said she saw Gina in Yakima."

Valerie sighed. "She's there."

"What exactly is a Cylon? If it's from a TV show how is it in the park with the National Guard?"

The sudden angry look on Val's face made Michelle take a step back. "A Cylon," Val said, "is a big, stupid, evil machine. Sometimes it looks like a robot. Sometimes it looks like a human, but what it does all the time is _utterly ruin people's lives_...and Gina has been building one for the government for the past twelve years!"

"Oh," Michelle said. "It sounds like I should be worried…"

"Yes. Yes you should."

Valerie left the bathroom with that. Michelle lingered a moment before rushing after her.

* * *

The National Guard was using the Rotary Pavilion as a headquarters while deploying troops throughout the park. Gina caught up with her people and they headed straight there, where they saw an officer with gray hair and heavy eyebrows giving orders in a craggy voice that reached them long before they reached the platform. "...and I want fallback positions set up in two rings around the surrounding area! If them aliens decide they wanna break out I want them eating rounds all the way out to friggin' Olympia!"

"General?" One of his aides said, pointing at Gina and the others as they approached. The officer turned and put on a smile.

"Well, lookee what we got here," he said, "a bunch of mad scientists with a …" His smile disappeared and he locked in on Gina. "Are you fuckin' shittin' me?"

"Whatever do you mean, General?" Gina said as she got close.

He pointed at Cy and said, "I ain't got time for a sci-fi convention, doc! I got_ real_ bad guys that I need to keep contained in this here park!"

"I assure you, General…" She read his nametag. "...Castle, we're not here for a convention. We're here to deliver the Humanoid Combat System."

"Yeah, and that's what I was told to expect," Castle said. "What I didn't expect was that it would look like a fucking costume I bought for my kid when he was five!"

"Oh yeah, let's put him in the _Special Armor…"_ Lenny muttered to Dwayne.

Gina crossed her arms. "Despite his appearance, General, the HCS on his own is the equivalent of a mechanized infantry squad. Now, if that's not good enough for you, we can get back in the helicopter and go home…"

"Now don't get excited, doc," Castle said. "You're here, which is more than I can say for a bunch of other guys. I was promised Predators and Reapers but they ain't here yet! I was promised some robot gun vehicles but they ain't coming till tomorrow! So if your whatsis can do what you say, he can walk around lookin' like C-3PO for all I care!"

"Now I'm picturing Threepio in Fallujah taking on Al Qaeda…" Jenny muttered to Lenny.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence," Gina said.

"Okay...so how do you control it? You got a command truck on the way or something?"

"No. He accepts voice commands and can receive signals over all Army and Marine field radio frequencies."

"So I just tell it what to do and it does it? Outstanding! That'll save a lot of time when the shit hits the fan!"

"Actually, sir, I was hoping we could discuss ways to avoid a confrontation…"

General Castle rolled his eyes and muttered, "Aw, hell! You're one of those…"

"One of what?" Gina said indignantly.

"One of those movie scientists that gets all het up if somebody wants to do some kinda violence to the alien invaders, like they always expect the ETs to come down and group hug, and then the giant robot with the laser eye comes outta the ship and starts vaporizin' soldiers." He turned briefly to Cy and said, "No offense, Big Guy…"

"None-taken," Cy answered.

Castle did a double-take at the verbal response, then shook it off and went back to dressing Gina down. "Lookee here, missy, I ain't no diplomat, and if my bosses wanted a diplomat here they shoulda fuckin' well sent one! I'm here to make sure the ETs don't get belligerent, and if that's a problem for you, leave Junior here and feel free to get back on the whirlybird anytime!"

Gina glared at him. "And if something happens to 'Junior' who's going to fix him? You?"

Castle thought about it a minute. "Fine, but until the thing breaks I want absolute authority over how it's deployed!"

"I just said he'll accept verbal commands!"

"That you did," Castle said, adopting a fake smile and pleasant tone, "but I'd appreciate it if I didn't have to check every command with you, so I'd like you to fix it so that he only accepts my commands. It's not that I don't trust you…"

Gina huffed, but she said, "Cy, for the duration of this deployment you will accept orders only from General Castle…"

_"And,_" Castle said, "I get to decide _when_ the deployment ends!"

"And General Castle will decide when you stand down. Confirm commands."

"I-will-accept-orders-only-from-General-Castle-unt il-General-Castle-says-to-stand-down. By-your-command."

"Thank you," Castle said to Gina, "Now if you and your people wouldn't mind waiting in the administration building until…"

"General!" Another aide called out. "Another craft is entering the atmosphere!"

Castle and the others hurried to the picnic area, where Army personnel manned laptops set up on picnic tables. He went to the one where his aide was standing by and asked, "What's its ETA?"

"Approximately six minutes! It entered the atmosphere practically on top of us!"

"Shit!" Castle said. "Where the fuck is my air support?"

"Three minutes out!" Someone else called. "AWACS is sending four -sixteens and two Warthogs! We'll have Predator and Reaper coverage in five minutes!"

"Outstanding! I want those Falcons locked and cocked and ready to shoot whatever it is out of the sky!"

"Wait, general!" Gina said. "You have to let them land!"

Castle turned to her and gave her a look. "Are you still on my ass about that?"

"General, the first spaceship didn't do anything hostile when it showed up. There's no reason to believe this one is hostile either! Give them a chance to land peacefully and communicate with us. If they turn out to be hostile you can always bomb them on the ground."

Castle glared at her for a minute, then decided he didn't want to argue. "Fine!" He turned to Cy. "What do I call you, Big Guy?"

"Cy-Is-Preferable," Cy said.

"Whatever. Listen, I got a full company of infantry dug into the trees in the north and I got HQ company occupying the buildings here! If we're gonna let these yahoos land I want them to feel nice and at home so I'm keeping everything under wraps till the fit hits the shan. Now I'm betting they'll use the ball field for a landing pad, so I want you to double time it and take up a watch position between the ball field and the track, cuz when they come outta that saucer I want the first things they see to be that mug o' yours and that big-ass weapon! You copy?"

"I-copy," Cy said.

"If they do get uppity I want you ta' drive 'em into the trees so's my boys can slam 'em with a wall of lead! Still copy?"

"Still-copy."

"Get going!"

"By-your-command." Cy turned and headed off at jog toward the jogging track and field on the eastern side of the park.

"Damn," Castle marveled, "it talks, it says by-your-command, its eye does that woo-woo shit…" He turned to Gina's team. "You guys musta had a real hard-on for Battlestar Galactica back in the day!"

"Just the boss-lady," Jenny said, jerking a thumb at Gina.

"UAVs coming in!" Someone called out. "One Predator and one Reaper are taking up an orbit over the park at five thousand feet! The fighters are orbiting the city at ten thousand!"

"Put the air force on standby! Tell 'em to let the ETs land but be ready to take 'em out on the ground! I want access to the Predator's take in real-time!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Um, General," Lenny ventured, "not to criticize your tactical prowess, but when you told Cy to drive the aliens into a wall of lead, I don't suppose it occurred to you that part of that wall might hit him?"

The glare Castle hit him with made him clench up. "It's a machine," Castle said. "Build another one!" he went back to his preparations.

"Asshole," Caprica said in Gina's ear, "I'd like to hit him with a wall of lead…"

"Will you _please_ shut up?" Gina said.

"Sorry, boss," Lenny said, "I just thought…"

"No, Lenny, it's okay," Gina said. "We have to protect Cy, of course, but this is what we built him for. We have to trust that he can handle himself and that the commanders we turn him over to use him wisely."

"And if they don't?" Dwayne asked.

"Then the General's right. We'll fix him and build lots more of him."

"Does everybody hear that?" Jenny said. She was looking up, along with several others nearby, looking for the source of a screaming sound that seemed to be getting closer. Soon everyone was hearing it.

"Target inbound!" The tech called out. "It's coming in from the southeast!"

Everyone looked southeast in time to see a large, boxy, gray object streak over the park and begin to circle overhead.

* * *

The Heavy Raider took one last look at the area before landing. There were people hidden in the copse of trees in the northeast area of the park. Possible ambush. There were more people in and around the structures to the west, and people setting up posts in parts of town surrounding the park. All the people, as far as it could tell, were human.

There were machines in the area. First one, and then a second, flying machine entered the area at roughly the same time as the Raider. The first one was armed. The second was using active sensors - primitive ones - to constantly track it. The Raider returned the gesture with its own DRADIS.

At the end of its recon orbit the Raider saw something that gave it hope. Standing at the ready between the two competition fields was a machine it recognized: a Centurion. This was an indication of what The Six promised. There were Cylons on Earth.

The centurion was faced toward the diamond-shaped competition field to the east. The Raider decided to set down there.

* * *

Everyone in the park watched in awe as the alien craft slowed to a hover and descended to the baseball field. The screaming everyone heard as it approached was almost deafening as it landed. Jenny couldn't be sure because of the distance, but she said anyway, "It kinda looks like it has a face, doesn't it?"

General Castle wasn't listening. "I want that Predator over that sucker right now!" He screamed at a tech. "I want the realtime take on that screen whenever what's flying that thing decides to come out!"

* * *

Cy watched carefully as the spacecraft landed on the baseball field. He was calculating different possible battle scenarios in his CPU, but ultimately decided that he was in the optimal position to defend the Rotary Pavillion and drive the enemy north if need be. For the moment all he had to do was wait, so he committed the configuration of the craft to detailed memory. Analysis subroutines tried to work out what might be weak points in the visible structure. It would laser-target these spots later for the nearby Reaper if an air strike became necessary.

Exactly 22.738 seconds after the craft's screaming engines died down, a door and loading ramp opened up in front of him. Cy adjusted his gaze to the exact center of the opening space. He waited patiently until the doors were fully opened. He brought his weapon up to "port-arms" as his audio pickups heard the sound of heavy footsteps.

* * *

Castle's eyes were glued to one of the laptop displays, watching the live take from the Predator, when he realized the scientists were gathered behind him looking over his shoulders. The general tried very hard to keep his composure.

They all watched as the Predator adjusted its orbit so that it could keep a constant watch on the area between Cy and the spacecraft, locking in just in time to catch the door opening. "They're coming out!" Jenny said.

Everyone waited until there was some movement on the screen. Figures emerged from cavernous cargo space at a military march. They were tall, silvery-grey, slender and robotic.

"Well, now we know," Dwayne said. When the others looked at him, he said, "We've always wondered if alien explorers would come to Earth themselves or send robots. Obviously, these aliens sent robots."

"They didn't just send robots," Lenny said, his attention back on the display. The others turned back and looked closely…

...and they saw that a small bright light was emanating from the faces of each figure...lights that swung back and forth across the part of the face where their eyes would be.

"They sent their own _Cylons."_ Jenny breathed, then everyone turned to look at Gina.

Gina smiled at them and blushed. "Imagine that…" she said sheepishly.

* * *

TBC...


End file.
