IX
The CIC onboard the Adama was almost silent as the bridge crew tried to follow the snippets of what was going on below them. Lee had never seen the tension so high inside the nerve center of the ship. They couldn't make out everything, as there were overlapping calls coming in, which made the situation even more unbearable.
Finally after ten minutes, although it seemed like an eternity, a voice crackled through on the speakers. "Adama Actual, Raptor 330, this is Sunshine, we have our MIA, repeat, we have our MIA, RTB."
The room exploded in a cacophony of joyous sounds as people yelled, hugged, cried and made an unseemly display-and their Admiral didn't mind one bit. Brevin Cross came up to The Boss, smile, and shook his Admiral's hand. "We got him back, Boss."
Lee was as emotional as everyone else, although he hid it as best he could. He wondered for a moment if he would have been so choked up had this been someone else they had rescued and not simply the brother of his best friend in the Universe. Brevin Cross sensed what Lee was thinking immediately.
"Don't sweat it, Boss", he said, clapping Lee on the back. "Everyone knows how close you are to the Bonds, but they also know you'd have busted your ass to get any one of them back, too."
"Thanks, XO", Lee said, and looked around at his team, then pumped his fist in the air.
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Governor and Mrs. Bond had been alerted that Nick had been found and rescued, and were heading back to the William Adama. They were told he was in bad shape but alive. Abby Bond-Creider was hustled off of the Carl Sagan and brought to the Flagship.
Natalie Schrevrenko, like everyone else in her hangar, had been following the snippets of the chaos on the surface, and like what had happened in CIC the place erupted when it was announced that Captain Bond was coming home. The Ensign fell to the floor on her knees, crying uncontrollably, part in agony and part in happiness, she couldn't tell the difference.
Captain Kamala Wimbusi saw her, and immediately ran to her, and joined her on the floor, with tears in her eyes as well. "Natalie, we got him!", she yelled as she hugged her Ensign. After a few moments, they got to their feet. "Ensign, we need to get you over to Governor and Mrs. Bond. You should be with them when Nick arrives on board."
"Spasibo, Captain", she said, smiling through her tears. The two them left and with an MP escort directly to the Governor's quarters.
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When she arrived at the Governor's living arrangements, the MP's opened the doors for them, and in came Wimbusi and Natalie. Judith Bond saw her, and with a tearful smile walked over to the young lady, they both hugged and cried, one getting her son back, and the other getting the love of her life back. Judith held her for several minutes until Natalia was calmed.
'Our boy's back, Natalie", Judith Bond exclaimed, kissing her on the forehead, and wiping at her tears.
"When will he arrive>" That was all Natalia was thinking about.
The Governor answered that. "The MP just told me he'll be aboard in approximately seven minutes. They want to take us back to the Hangar when he arrives. I will warn both of you, Admiral Adama says that he's in bad shape."
That visibly deflated the women, but they had him back, and whatever happened now, they thought they could deal with it.
Abby joined them a few moments later, and under heavy guard, they were escorted to the hangar.
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Starbuck was still cradling Nick in her lap as Ito Genda smoothly landed the Raptor in the port hangar bay of the Adama. Captain Dalbott had been doing what he could to for the unconscious pilot. His main concern had been to stop the bleeding between his groin and his thigh, and he had pretty much done that. Fortunately, the bullet that had hit him was a small caliber, and had been fired from a distance, or else it would have done more damage.
Medics were waiting and brought a gurney up to the side of the Raptor. Kara and Dalbott, with the help of Kelsey Graham, lifted Nicholas towards the gurney, where the medics began to wheel him towards Sick Bay. Doctor Patel and her team were there waiting to examine him.
As he was wheeled by, Abby, Judith, and Natalie were sobbing, stunned by Nick's appearance. The Governor was clearly shaken at the condition of his son even though the MP's had told them he was in bad shape. But he's alive, and he has a chance, the Governor comforted himself.
After Nick was wheeled away, the family turned back towards the Raptor. Admiral Kara Thrace-Bond was still standing on the wing and met her family's eyes. The look on her face was as grim and as ashen-faced as they could ever remember. She jumped off the wing, and slowly made her way towards them.
There was no rushing to each other, but Kara and her Mom met halfway. Judith Bond looked at her adopted daughter and put both her hands on her cheeks. "Thank you for bringing Nick home to us, Starbuck." Her mom said, controlling her emotions this time. Kara couldn't remember her mom ever using her Call Sign, and that broke the demeanor on her face. She didn't fall apart, but the tears came back, as she hugged her mother.
"Mom...it was horrible down there", she said, still embracing her mother. "I was almost on the ground when he was shot", she said, punishing herself for not being ten seconds quicker.
"I know it was, babe, but you and your crew got him, that's all that matters." she smiled proudly at her daughter.
She then hugged Abby for what seemed like an eternity. Abby then excused herself to head to Sick Bay to get an update on her brother's prognosis.
She went to Natalie next. "He's home, Natalie", she said, hugging the newest member of the Bond Clan, whether official or not, "and he has a chance."
"Thank you Admiral", then she paused. "Thank you...Kara". The two warmly embraced with small smiles on both their faces.
The Governor came to her next. "Rough day, honey?" Kara actually laughed, remembering how she had said that to him after he was shot during the terrorist attack.
"Roughest one of my life, dad", she said, taking a big breath, and holding his hand, "but we brought him home, dad. We brought him home." She put her head against his chest, soaking in the love and support that she desperately needed at that moment.
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Later That Evening
Clevin Monteith looked at the carnage in front of him. Thirty-six of his men and women lay dead, after the sharp, short battle that had taken place here. The survivors had filled him in: they almost had the pilot, but then the aircraft and the Special Op forces had all converged at the same time and had taken the pilot first. His bargaining chip vanished with the Raptors.
He was damned if he would give up what he had built for himself-what his slaves had built for him. He wanted revenge; he vowed revenge; he wanted that Admiral's head on a platter.
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Admiral Adama was meeting with Governor Bond, Admiral Thrace-Bond, his XO, General Grayson, and Colonel Otter, in a debrief of the events that had culminated with the successful rescue of Captain Nicholas Bond.
"Admiral, I have to tell you", Kendrick Grayson started, "If those yahoos had been packing real weapons, this would have turned out different", he said in a stark moment of honesty. "If that guy who shot Nick had had a weapon like ours, the Captain wouldn't have survived, sir."
Kara and the Governor were calm on hearing that, but they knew Nick wasn't out of the woods yet. He was still unconscious. The Doctors were still evaluating his prognosis. The groin wound wasn't as serious as it could have been, and they could reset his broken forearm. Their concern had been the festering wound in his buttock. They had found a half-inch piece of metal still lodged inside him. They had removed it, thoroughly cleaned the wound and had him on several antibiotics. The medication had already brought his fever down, which was a good sign, but they couldn't tell yet how much damage the lodged metal had done. They would keep him sedated for at least another thirty-six hours.
The Admiral had called them together for a very specific decision. He knew now this lunatic in the mountains and his followers could put a huge dent in the long-term plans to restore the Colonies. If UED couldn't secure what had been the Capital of The Twelve Colonies, it could lead to the disintegration of all their efforts up to this point and for future missions.
"I agree with you, Kendrick", the Admiral answered sullenly. He also knew if those people had weapons like theirs, they would have lost more than Nicholas Bond. "We got off lucky this time-no offense Governor, Admiral", he said glancing at the Bond's." They didn't take any umbrage and understood perfectly well that Lee was right.
The Governor was as shrewd a politician as Earth had seen in many years, and he had an idea of where Lee was going with this brief. "The question is, Lee, what do we exactly do about it?" He wasn't just asking Lee, but everyone, because what they decided here would affect future missions to The Colonies.
Lee took a breath and went right to the heart of it. "I'm proposing that we leave a division's strength of ground forces here, to counter these nuts in the hills", no one looked shocked, but none of them liked the idea. "We would also leave a force of Raptors and Falcons here as well. The plan is for the Caprica and the Libran to be here a few months before we depart. I'm going to make a further request to UED in my next report to them."
Kara got it before even her father. "You're going to request more Battlestars to join them, aren't you?" Her eyes went wider with that thought.
Justin Bond listened to his subordinates for the moment, and Lee continued. "That's Correct, Admiral", he confirmed. "I'm going to request two additional Battlestars and about thirty additional support ships to accompany The Fleet here."
General Grayson was getting the idea. "We bring in the extra Battlestars, so we can do what we need to do here on Caprica and still do the work we came here to do, right?"
"You've got it, Ken", Lee nodded again. "I understand this is a long-term commitment and investment in The Colonies, and none of us will live to see the true fruition of those plans, but if we fall behind now, we lose positive momentum moving forward."
"We've only been here, and on Aerilon and Canceron", Kara added, "and from the reports I've read from Rabbit, the latter could cause some problems in Hades. Nothing has happened, and the people there are playing it cool, but General Trevor reports unrest there."
"I'm aware of that", Lee said without rancor. "We don't expect many problems on Sagitteron, Aquaria, Scorpia, and Libran on the far side, and over here, the only place we could see trouble from beside here is Tauron."
Lee's logic was sound. They had known that the unknown would raise its head here. Caprica had thrown a wrench into their plans, and it would have to be dealt with if the long-term plans of UED would be successful.
The discussion went on for some time while the Governor remained silent, taking a few notes as things progressed. He had his own ideas but felt it was healthy to let those below him use their minds to help shape a policy that he would ultimately have to approve.
The discussion drew down and finally, the Governor spoke. "As always, everyone has valid ideas and opinions on what's to come. And we all know it won't be easy", he was looking down, the stress of his son's condition still front-and-center on his mind, but he also had a Fleet to govern. "One thing I believe needs to be brought to everyone's attention is the fact that when Caprica and Libran sail here with their fleet, the next two Colonial Class ships won't be ready to sail for two years after that."
Everyone stopped cold for a moment. Lee was embarrassed to admit he hadn't thought of that, and he reprimanded himself internally for the omission. The Governor continued.
"We could appropriate two Terran Class ships, but do you think that would be enough, Lee?"
Lee paused for a moment, doing some mental math on the fly, before answering The Boss. "For what I'm thinking, Governor, it would be thin, I have to admit."
Justin Bond went silent for a few moments, still looking at his notepad, pen sitting on top of it. He was chewing on some ideas and needed a few moments before going on.
"Lee, I want to see your force projections before making a final decision, but at this time, I'm leaning towards requesting four Terran Class Battlestars to accompany the Caprica and Libran on the voyage, as well as up to eight more DSE's." Then he made another mental note. "That fleet sails in just over a year, so we have to make our recommendations quickly. You all know putting together a fleet is a Herculean task, and the more time we give them, the better."
"Yes, sir". Lee replied like the pro he was.
"Thank you, Admiral", he nodded his head. "If you can get those projections to me within a few hours, I'll go over them tonight, and have my decision in the morning."
Kara objected. "Dad", she said reverting to just Kara again, "do you really want to be studying that while Nick is in such serious condition?"
For once he rebuked his daughter. "Admiral Thrace-Bond, as Governor of this fleet I have a responsibility to everyone here, not just our family." He didn't raise his voice, but he had to compartmentalize even during such a personal crisis. "As the Commander-In-Chief our Military here, I need to study Lee's plans and get back to him ASAP. We don't have the luxury to sit on this for a few days or weeks. Our message won't get back to Earth for forty days, and that's forty less they'll have to put this together."
Kara slightly blushed, as her father had rarely scolded her publicly like that. But on reflection, she knew he was right. He then sought to soften the blow he had administered to his daughter.
"Besides, honey", he wanly smiled, cushioning the blow, "I don't think I'm going to get much sleep over the next few days." She nodded at him, accepting the point.