Title: A Prick of the Finger
Challenge: For
the_applecart Challenge 1- Pegasus Pilots
Fandom: BSG- Kara & Lee
Rating: T
Words: 1611
They did it.
They had a map to earth.
“Astral Queen. This is Captain Adama. Over.”
There was no response, not even the crackling sound of static. Lee tried again.
“Astral Queen. This is Captain Adama.”
Again there was no response. A feeling of dread started to fill his stomach. Kara made her way over towards Apollo when she heard the second call.
“Are you sure the COMM settings are right?” Lee glared at Kara as she tried to see the setting on the COMM over Lee’s shoulder.
“I know how to use a COMM Kara.”
“Whatever you say Captain.” She was smirking at him like she knew something he didn’t.
“Here. Take it. You try.”
Kara took the COMM from Lee and checked the settings. Lee rolled his eyes. The settings were correct. That made Kara pause for a second.
“Astral Queen wake the frak up.”
Again there was no response. Kara’s face started to show signs of concern. The Astral Queen should have responded. If the Astral Queen couldn’t respond one of the other ships should have.
“Astral Queen. This is Lt. Thrace. Respond.”
The line was silent still. If any of the ships were up within distance there should have been at least static.
Kara looked over at Lee. Lee’s jaw was clenched tight.
“Why aren’t they responding?” President Roslin asked.
It was in that moment that Lee and Kara silently agreed. Only two reasons could explain the lack of a response. Either what was left of the fleet had jumped away or it was destroyed by the Cylons.
Lee took a deep breath before answering President Roslin.
“Madam President. No one . . . the fleet isn’t up there . . . anymore.”
“Try again Captin Apollo. They ARE up there.”
“I’m sorry Madam President but no one is up there.”
“They’re up there. They wouldn’t leave us.”
“They might not had an option,” muttered Kara.
Understanding flashed across the President’s face before she glanced over at Sharon and back to Kara and Lee.
Lee moved close to the President to try and comfort her as her knuckles turned white from clutching the Book of Pythia so tight.
For a moment Kara scars from Caprica flared with a burning pain. It all had been for nothing.
They were trapped on this cursed planet.
Kara felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to find Helo hovering over her.
“What do you want to do?”
“Same thing we always do Helo. Survive.”
The five of them had spent the past months exploring Kobol. It rained constantly, only letting up to snow. During the exploration they found the ruins of towns and even a city claimed by the forest. In the ruins of one of the towns Kara had found a small gold coin with the figure of Apollo leaning on a bow while holding an arrow. Kara had asked Apollo if he thought his Arrow of Apollo was bigger than the one on the coin. Lee didn’t dignify Kara’s question with a response. Laura cracked the first smile since the five of them had been left on Kobol.
Lee woke up with a shudder. It had gotten colder again. Lee reached over to pull Kara closer but she was missing. He groaned and reached for his gear. He knew where she would be, the same place she’d been day and night for the past fortnight.
As Lee made his way to the Heavy Raider they had discovered a couple of months ago, he passed by Sharon’s grave.
When they discovered they Heavy Raider it was a moment of relief and joy but then Sharon became ill. Helo, Kara, Laura, and Lee sat by helplessly as Sharon (and with her the baby) died. Without Sharon they couldn’t fly the Heavy Raider.
The Heavy Raider sat rotting until a fortnight ago when Lee woke to find Kara not curled up beside him but instead working on the Heavy Raider.
“Kara.”
“Hey. I think I almost got this fraker flyable. I got his sister flying and I’m gonna do it to this boy too.”
Lee stared at her as she loving petted something that looked like rotting intestines and smelled far worse.
“That’s good.” Kara’s head turned towards Lee. She knew that tone of his. It was a tone that told her that it wasn’t good.
“Yah, it is.”
“Kara,” Lee took a deep breath before asking Kara a question that had plagued him since finding her in the Heavy Raider. “Why are you doing this?” As much a Lee disliked the rain it was peaceful and . . . nice on Kobol.
“Frak Lee. We have a mission to complete.”
“A mission?”
“To find Earth.”
“To find Earth.” Pondered Lee out loud before adding, “For who? The four us left of the human race?”
“The Old Man is gonna find Earth and we are going to meet the Fleet there.”
“You really believe that my father who was SHOT in the chest MORE THAN ONCE is going to LEAD his fleet to Earth WITHOUT a MAP?”
“If anyone can do it, it would be him.” Lee took a look at Kara and could tell that she really believed what she said.
“Kara you need to be realistic here. We have -“
“I can’t stay here. . . I won’t.”
“Why? We have a perfectly good-“
“I’m pregnant.”
“Your . . um. . .” Lee motioned to Kara’s stomach.
“With child, have a bun in the onion, knocked up.”
Lee nodded his head but kept looking at her stomach as if he was expecting for it to suddenly grow.
“I won’t have our child born here Lee. I won’t.”
He saw such fear in her eyes. It hurt to look at her. Lee walked over to Kara and pulled her into a tight hug. “Where do you want me to start?” Lee could feel Kara smile against his neck.
Kara was able to get the Heavy Raider flying with help from Lee and Helo. They had completed a successful FTL jump from one side of Kobol to the other. Now they had to decide where to go. They knew they couldn’t go searching through space for Earth. They needed jump to a location.
Laura was emphatic that the Tomb of Athena would give them something more than just a direction and which star patterns would be visible from Earth. She kept telling them that they must have missed something. With Laura’s health deteriorating at a faster rate and the appearance of Kara’s small baby bump reminded them that they were going to have to leave soon. Going to the Tomb of Athena once more couldn’t do any harm.
The hike that should have taken one day took them two. As they approached the entrance to the tomb they passed the graves of Tom Zarek and his associates. Kara took out the Arrow of Apollo from it’s case. As she placed the arrow into the bow of Sagittaron statue she pricked her finger on a jagged edge of the tip of the Arrow of Apollo.
“Frak.”
“Kara are you ok?” Lee asked as he made his way over towards her.
“Just -“but Kara was interrupted a whooshing sound as they were transported inside the planetarium.
“This never ceases to amaze me,” stated Laura in wonder as she looked up at the pillars. Helo was holding her arm to keep her standing upright.
Lee blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. He looked to where Kara should have been but she wasn’t standing next to Lee. Lee glanced around and found her sprawled out on the grass.
Lee dropped to his knees and rolled her over.
“Kara. Kara wake up!” demanded Lee.
Lee brushed her hair from face to find her eyes wide open and a white glaze clouding her hazel eyes. She started to mumble incoherently.
Helo took a quick intake of breath.
“Oh my gods,” exclaimed Laura.
Kara woke up from her trance five days later knowing the way to Earth. She tried to explain what she saw and the song from her childhood that was on repeat in her head but she could never put the words together.
“We’ve left Kobol’s atmosphere. We are good to jump,” informed Helo.
“You’re on Starbuck.” Lee smiled at her and squeezed her hand.
Kara silently said a prayer to the gods before activating the FTL drive and entering in the coordinates.
The Heavy Raider made the jump.
Kara was the first to open her eyes. She squeezed Lee’s hand. Lee opened his eyes and looked out. They were hovering over a medium sized plant that had signs that it was habitable.
Helo was the first to put into words what they all were thinking.
“We found it. We found earth.”
“Take us down Captain Apollo.”
* * *
Two blond haired boys are running down a hill towards their home. Neither boy is older than seven or eight.
“Mom! Dad!” Screamed the boys.
Kara looked up to see her sons pointing behind them as they ran towards her.
She tenses as she looks up to the ridge of the hill.
Lee steps out of the cabin holding their two year old daughter in his arms.
“Lee are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
Lee’s eyes the ridge and squints. There are about twenty or so people standing on the ridge. They were all wearing what looked to be military fatigues. They are not locals. One figure, a man starts down the hill. There is something familiar about the man’s walk. Lee knows that walk. It’s his father.