Part 2: Meeting

"That was an interesting game," Sheba said as Toni walked into the shower. She had gone into the game room to get her wing mate for patrol and noticed that Toni was playing a new game. Sheba had taken a few moments to study the game before catching Toni's attention.

"It did work out well," Toni said admitting that her game had gone over well. It still needed some refinements but the general principle was there. She picked up the soap and washed herself from the sweat.

"We'll have time to eat and then go to our briefing," Sheba said as they would be the next patrol after Bojay and that it would be Toni's first time in a viper.

Toni finished her shower and quickly dressed and they went to the cafeteria. As she walked in she noticed the short blonde haired woman walking out again. Toni inwardly cursed her luck. She had rarely seen the woman yet felt attracted to her.

"Why don't you just follow her," Sheba asked seeing that the blonde had just walked out of the room.

"I don't have time," Toni said as she went and got some food.

Sheba shook her head and thought that Toni was just afraid. The two women were always missing each other.

After the quick meal they headed to the launch bay where the vipers were. Toni approached her viper and wondered what type of adventures she would have.

"You're all fueled up and ready to go ma'am," the crew chief said as Toni climbed up into the cockpit. She was handed her helmet after she sat down and put it on.

"Core command transferring coordinates to viper control acknowledged," came the sweet voice that Toni loved to hear.

"Transfer complete," Toni replied.

"Core command transferring launch control to viper patrol, launch when ready," the voice said.

Toni took a deep breath as she watched as Sheba's viper took off out of the launch bay. She pressed the turbo button and was pressed back against the seat as the viper sped out of the launch tube.

Toni quickly found herself out in space and a strange sensation came over her as she realized she had complete control over where she was going and the beauty of space. She quickly found where Sheba was and brought herself into position.

Piloting a shuttle did not really prepare Toni for the feel of a viper. Even the simulations were lacking, but they were close to the real thing. The vipers had a better response than the shuttles and definitely more speed than the shuttles had.

Toni watched as the Hyperion disappeared into the background of space. The patrol route that they would take would be to patrol up in front of the fleet. Sheba had told her that the flight would probably be uneventful. Toni had also heard about all the adventures that Apollo and Starbuck had while on patrol. It seemed like the two of them went out looking for trouble.

Toni kept one eye on her scanner and the other on where Sheba was and their flight path. The path was not really a set path but a general guideline for the pilots to use.

The patrol was actually very boring as there was little communication with each other and even less with the battlestars. Toni had seen the Agamemnon on the way out of the fleet and her white armor looked like it would stand out against the blackness of space but with all the other ships it blended right in.

Toni glanced at the Agamemnon, Galactica and the Hyperion as she returned from her first patrol. The battlestars were each a bit different, yet looked alike. They were also the largest ships in the fleet but no more important than any of the other ships.

Toni requested landing instructions and was pleased to hear the familiar voice that she had grown accustomed to hearing. She pictured the small blonde and wondered if she would ever meet the woman.

Toni acknowledged the orders and steadied her fighter for the landing. This was her first time landing a real viper, and although she had done it in simulations this one could kill her. She felt her heart rate pick up a bit as she watched the landing lights of the hanger. She throttled her ship down and put on her reverse thrusters a bit to bled off some speed.

Toni double checked that her landing pads were down. She reduced speed a bit more and then landed her ship flawlessly. She figured that landing was the hardest part, aside from combat. She was not sure she would ever see any combat.

Her canopy opened and she handed her helmet to the ground crew who was waiting. Climbing down she saw Starbuck standing there waiting.

"Nice touchdown," he said to her. He and Apollo were on board checking up on the recruits as they made their first flight. Starbuck had learned from Omega that Toni was learning everything she could and would probably be ready to be on her own in another couple of days.

"Thanks," Toni said with a smile. It was nice to know that someone was watching.

"That was your first time in a viper right," he asked making sure that he did not miss that fact.

"Yeah, you guys didn't tell me that landing was the hardest part," Toni said wiping her hand on her pants. She had been sweating quite a bit coming in from the nerves.

"You get used to it," Starbuck said with a shrug. "After being in battle for an hour or so the landing is pretty easy."

Toni thought about that and realized that he was probably right. All the regulars had seen action against the Cylons. They had experiences that the rest of them did not have. Toni realized that in order to make up for that she would have to spend some more time in the simulator.

"I guess that's true, so what are you doing on the Hyperion," Toni asked.

"You're approaching the end of the basic training and Apollo and I are here to give you your results. Meet us in the situation room in two hours," Starbuck said.

"How am I doing," Toni asked him.

"Ah uh, can't tell you yet," he smirked. It was something that the veterans had discussed in detail over. There would have to be some who will rise in the ranks quicker than others. Just about everyone on the Galactica had been given a raise in rank.

The fleet was increasing its total viper pilots by more then three times. That meant that some of the recruits would be needed to rise to more command roles. They had gone over the results of the simulators and noticed who spent time where and how.

Both Bojay and Sheba had given Toni high marks and she would be part of a group that would take on more responsibility.

Toni realized that he would not say and excused herself to shower. Decompression was not necessary unless they had visited a planet's surface, then it was essential. That was something that was strictly enforced. She had learned that a sickness had infected the pilots when Boomer and his wingman had neglected that. Just about every pilot had come down with it.

Starbuck watched Toni walk away. She was tall for a female, almost as tall as he was. The fighters were made for a maximum of six feet two inches and most of the men were around five ten to six foot. He realized if Cassiopia caught him staring at Toni he would have a lot of explaining to do.

Toni went to shower and met up with Sheba in their quarters. She was getting ready to go back on out again with another recruit. With so many new people they could not pair each recruit with a veteran. Toni had realized this and spent a lot of time in the simulators and studying the layout of the viper. She had also asked questions when someone like Sheba or Bojay was around.

Toni glanced at the clock and realized that she had about an hour and a half. She grabbed a technical manual and headed to the cafeteria to read and grab something to drink.



Rhea sighed and rubbed her eyes. She had been pushing herself hard the past couple of day and the forced rest by Omega had only reinforced the fact that she was tired. She had just been trying to make sure everything was working clearly.

She had gone back up to the bridge and watched as Omega and someone else she was not familiar with talked. They also appeared to be talking with someone else one the military comm line. She overheard the voice and recognized it as Commander Adama's voice.

From the snippets of information she could gather she figured they were talking about a way to integrate the three battlestars for the maximum effectiveness in coverage and patrols. She heard that the Hyperion would probably be put in the middle as she had an extended scanning range and would be able to cover the front and back. The Galactica would take up the front and the Agamemnon would bring up the rear.

Rhea then concentrated on her job. She would get a break in about three hours for a meal. There were several patrols that were out and more to go out. With all of the new pilots they were trying to get them experience as soon as possible. One of the pilots out there now was the one with the mysterious voice that she loved to listen to.

Rhea figured that was a good thing. They were still close to Cylon space and even though there had been no contact with the Cylons for a while, a Cylon Baseship could appear at anytime. She also oversaw the scanners as well as any flights coming and going from the battlestar.

Rhea thought about her position in a small break in the action. She was really about the fourth in command of the ship and for her that was a scary thought. She had power to make decisions. At most times on the bridge she was usually a second in command and would command if anything happened to the person above her.

Omega was the commander of the ship, his second in command was a man named Sterk and a woman Bobbie had taken Omega's role that he held on the Galactica. Rhea was next in the chain of command. She hoped that nothing happened to the others.

"Everything going all right," Omega asked as he and the other man came walking over to where she was. She noticed that the other man was dressed like a pilot and had dark hair.

"Everything is running smooth commander," Rhea replied.

"This is Captain Apollo," Omega said introducing the man next to him.

Rhea looked at him and realized this was the pilot that gave Rigel such a hard time. "So you're the one that Rigel keeps talking about," she said watching Apollo look at her in confusion. "Where's your shadow," she asked with a bit of a smile. She had heard much about the combination of Starbuck and Apollo.

"My what, oh, you mean Starbuck. He's probably down at the landing bay talking to a few of the pilots," Apollo replied. "I should know that she talks about us, and I have no idea what you mean about hard time," Apollo said but it would have worked better if Omega had not rolled his eyes at the comment causing Rhea to smile even more.

Any reply that Rhea was about to say was interrupted by a radio message from an incoming patrol. Rhea turned her attention back to her job and noticed that it was the mysterious voice pilot. Rhea gave her a landing hanger and wondered what she looked like. An image of the woman that Janiel had described entered her mind. She quickly shook her head mentally and concentrated on her job as another pilot also asked for a landing bay.

Apollo noticed that she would be busy for the next couple of minutes so he turned back to Omega.

"We'll have to instruct her in the operations of a battlestar soon," Apollo told him. They both knew that she had a high rank now, and hoped that some of the crew from the Galactica did not feel slighted. His father, Adama, had told him that he offered the job to Kelli, but she declined it and she was the most experienced aside from Athena and Rigel. It was Rigel who had approached Adama with the idea of recruiting Rhea.

"She does work fast. She has managed to create an operational manual for the Hyperion and her four hangers already," Omega said. He was impressed with the woman and knew that she would do fine; she just needed bit of training.

"Just keep an eye out for any veterans who are jealous of her rank," Apollo replied. He then went off to find Starbuck and see what he had to say about some of the new pilots.

Rhea worked a bit longer before things died down again. Omega took this opportunity to talk with her.

"Rhea, I need to begin training you with the operations of a battlestar soon," Omega said to her.

"I know, I was just thinking about that earlier," Rhea replied not sure she really wanted the training, but the wanted her to have it.

"I doubt that you will ever have to command the ship, but it might be necessary one day," Omega said. "In the years that I was aboard the Galactica the person in your position rarely was needed to command the ship. That was usually when both Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh were in meetings and I had to leave the bridge for a few minutes."

"It probably won't happen much then," Rhea said and she was more comfortable with that. Neither Omega nor Sterk would be leaving to go to a council meeting together so she felt that she could handle that.

"Next time your on duty I'll begin your training as the Agamemnon will in charge of patrols," he told her. Rhea nodded her head and wondered what she would have to learn.

"Janiel, I'm starting to get hungry, you want to go now or when I get back," Rhea asked Janiel who was working with her.

Janiel glanced at the traffic and noticed that there was nothing she could not handle and told Rhea to go on a head. One person could do the entire job, but it was easier with two people, and during combat all of them would be up here with Rhea as the coordinator.

With a wave Rhea walked towards the cafeteria. Her mind was on what would probably be happening when she got back. Omega would want to begin training her for command of the battlestar as the patrols would be handled by the Agamemnon.

She was lost in thought as she rounded the corner and did not see the approaching person. She collided with something solid and she was knocked off balance and fell to the ground.



Toni sat in the cafeteria reading over the manual to the engines of a viper trying to gain as much knowledge as she could. In combat knowing what did what could prove to be the difference between life and death.

Her viper could be damaged and she would have to try to fix the damage by knowing what circuits to close or open to route around it. She had heard several stories about damaged vipers and how a few minor rerouting of the circuits allowed the pilot to come home.

Glancing up she realized that she needed to get to the meeting room for her evaluation from Apollo and Starbuck. Putting her glass away she picked up the manual and rushed out of the cafeteria.

Her mind wondered what was going to happen at the meeting and if it was going to be a one on one or not. Not paying attention she rounded the corner and collided with another person. The manual went out of her hands and she bent down to pick it up noticed who she had run into.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Toni said forgetting about her manual as she noticed the person she had knocked down was the small blonde she had seen several other times.

Green eyes blinked open as they locked on Toni's own blue ones and she thought that her heart had forgotten to beat as she stood there. The other woman seemed to be stunned as Toni hoped that she had not injured her in any way.

"Here let me help you up," Toni said grabbing a hand and pulling her up. They had not yet broken eye contact and Toni wondered if something was wrong, either with her or the young woman.

"Thanks," the blonde finally managed to say. Rhea had looked up and noticed the blue eye of the person who had knocked her down and felt like she could drown in them. She realized that the woman had said something to her and now she had helped her up. Her hand tingled from where they had touched.

Toni realized that she had the voice of the mysterious control woman. Toni realized that she had been right; the woman had to be her. Her body was sending her all types of signals until her brain realized that she had to be somewhere.

"I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going," Rhea said as an apology.

"It was my fault," Toni replied.

Rhea realized that the woman was dressed as a pilot as she finally heard the woman's voice. It was the mysterious pilot. Now that she had met her she did not know what to do.

"Ah, I need to be somewhere would you by chance, I mean maybe, ah, like to meet later on," Toni said stumbling through the question.

If Rhea's brain had been function she might have found the question a bit funny but she could barely think herself.

"I don't get off until later," Rhea said. "I could meet you in the game room in five hours."

Toni went over her schedule and realized that she could make that. "Sounds good, I look forward to meeting you," Toni said then with a quick 'later' rushed off to the briefing room.

Toni walked into the room still in a bit of a shock by her reactions to the lovely blonde. It was then she realized that she had forgotten to introduce herself.

'You dummy, she probably thinks you some kind of strange person now,' she thought to herself. She noticed that Apollo and Starbuck were in the room along with a few others and she put her mind on the meeting.

Rhea picked up some food and ate it in silence. She was trying to figure out what had just happened as well. She had never reacted like that before, not even to one of her dates. Part of her wondered why she had asked the pilot to the game room after she got off duty.

Rhea finished eating in a bit of a daze as she was still wondering what had happened to her during the chance encounter in the hallway. She could still see the blue eyes that were looking at her. She was amazed at how weak her knees felt after the pilot left. It was then she realized that she had asked the pilot to meet her without even knowing her name.

Rhea walked back to the bridge after quickly eating and found herself keeping an eye out for the dark haired beauty. She was a bit disappointed when she did not run into her. Walking onto the bridge she saw Sterk on the bridge but Omega was now off the bridge. She wondered where he was as their shifts usually were at the same time.

"Hey Rhea, the commander asked me to start some of your training after the last of the patrols came back," he said. He had a bit of a fatherly appearance as his hair was beginning to turn gray and middle age had begun to catch up with him around his middle. He gave Rhea the impression that he would do his job well. His previous post had been in engineering on the Galactica.

"Sounds fine," Rhea said looking at the patrol list to see how many fighters were out at the moment. "There are still four vipers out at the moment."

Sterk nodded his head inn agreement knowing that she still had her job to do.

"How crowded was the cafeteria," Janiel asked Rhea.

"Ah," Rhea had to think about that for a few seconds as she really did not know. "I really wasn't paying attention, but it didn't seem too crowded," Rhea finally answered not wanting to tell Janiel about the tall pilot she had been thinking about during her break.

"You must have had something on your mind," Janiel teased seeing a slight blush into Rhea's cheeks. Now Janiel really was curious as to what happened to Rhea during her break. The woman never blushed like this.

Janiel excused herself and headed to the cafeteria leaving Rhea alone to handle the returning fighters from patrol. Rhea looked at her flight group and watched for when the first group would return.



Toni sat down in the meeting room and wondered at what was going to happen. Apollo and Starbuck were in the room and now the commander of the Hyperion had walked into the room. She hoped that she had done nothing wrong yet to get her into trouble.

"Glad your here Toni," Starbuck said seeing her sit down. He knew that she was confused at the moment about why she was there. "We have something we want to discuss with each of you," Starbuck said to the small group.

"We have a lot of new recruits coming in and we've been evaluating them to see where they are. You three have demonstrated your abilities of leadership and the ability to learn quickly. Because of that we have felt that you will be in positions of leadership in your squadrons," Apollo said and Toni was a bit surprised at that. It was something that she was expecting to hear.

"Are we going to be moving from the squadron we're in right now," one person asked.

"No, we will be keeping you in your current squadrons. We have already talked with your squad leaders and they have agreed," Apollo said. "Toni, you will be Gold squads second in command under Sheba."

Toni was a bit in shock at that. She did not hear the rest of the group and knew then that she needed to hit the simulators some more to validate their decisions. Her next patrol would not be until tomorrow.

The group was dismissed for another group and Toni walked out of the room and headed to the simulators where she was scheduled for her next mission. Starbuck walked up to her before she could get too far out of the room.

"Toni," he said getting her attention. Toni turned around to look at Starbuck. "We know that you don't have much actual flight time yet, but there is more to leadership than that. We looked at everything and you have the drive we may one day need."

Toni was proud that she got such a compliment from an ace fighter pilot. "Thanks Starbuck," Toni replied.

"I'm sure that we will be able to count on you when the time comes," Starbuck said. "Well I better get back before Apollo misses me."

Toni watched as Starbuck walked away and she headed towards the simulators. She realized that a lot was going on today. She had met the young blonde, and had been given a promotion as well. She wondered what else would happen when she met the blonde later on in the game room.



Rhea wondered through the rest of her day as she tried hard to concentrate on work. She kept wondering what would happen later, and more importantly what she might wear.

She had learned a lot from Sterk and even more when Commander Omega had come back from his meeting. She had learned how to use the military communications and who the other commanders of the other battlestars were. She knew that Commander Tigh was on the Agamemnon and Commander Adama stayed on board the Galactica, but she had learned who the second in commands were.

Her shift ended and she walked to her quarters in a bit of excitement over meeting her mysterious pilot. She had been wondering what her name would be and had not come up with anything good. She would just have to wait to see what her name was.

Rhea walked into her quarters glad that Janiel would be a bit longer until she was off as it would allow her to figure out what she was going to wear. She thought about just keeping on her uniform, but thought that it might seem a bit drab. She had only a few other outfits, and only one real special outfit. It consisted of a skirt and a low cut blouse.

Rhea put it on to see what it might look like. She was glad that the outfit still fit as it was one she had when she was still on the colonies. She had not grown much since then.

Satisfied that she looked good she put on a light cover of makeup and looked at her reflection. She wondered how others might look at her once she went out and she briefly thought about wearing something else.

Taking a calming breath she walked out her door and made her way towards the gaming room. She knew that what she was wearing was not really for the gaming room, but it would work.



Toni had been keeping an eye on the clock as she read some more on the manuals of the vipers. If she was to be a leader then she needed to know more than the others. She had even briefly thought about talking to the flight crew about the vipers as they worked on them.

Glancing at the clock again she realized that it was time for her to make her way to the game room. She walked a bit of the way when a couple of the other guys from her squadron came up to her.

"Hey Toni, wait up," one said as they made their way beside her. "We were just wondering if you'd like to join a team for the game you created."

Toni wondered what they were talking about. She had not been expecting her game to catch on, and thought that it would only be a one time game.

"Some of the guys that were watching played after you left and it caught on. It's a great game to play and we would like to create a league. We've even written down some rules, so what do you say," he asked her.

"Well, I guess, when are you making up teams," she asked hoping that it was not right now but that was crushed when he replied that many were going to be at the game room to begin forming the teams and see how many people there would be.

Toni sighed at the realization that the game room would be crowded. She just hoped that she would be able to find the blonde woman. She walked into the room and realized that the large room had about fifty people in it. Most were in groups of four and she could tell that they had made up teams already.

"Hey Toni, are you going to play, we could use another player," one person said who she recognized as in her squadron.

Toni looked around to see if she could see the blonde and could not. "Put me down for your team, but right now I'm looking for someone," Toni replied to the man.

He nodded as the two she had walked over with joined him. She figured that they would be her teammates and looking around it appeared that each group was made up of different groups. There was a team from the other fighter squadrons and from engineering as well as flight crews and other areas looked to be represented. She figured that there would be about fifteen teams, maybe more.

She looked over as the door opened and the blonde walked into the room. The small woman had changed into a skirt and blouse and looked adorable in it. As she walked over she watched as the small woman was approached by several guys. For some reason she felt angry that they dared to talk to her.

Toni briefly thought that the smaller woman might want to have their company over hers when the blonde looked over to where she was. Her green eyes locked on her and she heard her say something to the guys and walked towards her.

"Um, hi," the blonde said a bit shyly as if she was unsure what to say.

"Hi," Toni managed to reply. At that moment she wished that they were alone.

"Is it always this crowded in here," the blonde asked fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"Not really, but they are putting together a league of a game that I created," Toni replied watching as the green eyes lit up at that.

"Wow, you created a game," she said looking around. "It must be popular."

"I didn't think that it would be but I guess so," Toni replied the realized that she still did not know the blonde's name. "Hey look earlier I didn't get a chance to tell you my name."

"Me neither," Rhea replied.

Just before Toni could open her mouth a red alert was sounded. Toni inwardly cursed whatever higher power was in charge at that moment as the sounds of the alarm and shouts of everyone in the room drowned out her voice.

Toni was pushed out of the room by her fellow pilots as they raced to the hangers. Toni felt anger surging through her blood at the fact that she still did not know the blonde's name. If the Cylons were attacking they were going to have one pissed off tall dark haired woman.

Rhea groaned at the fact that the alert had been sounded. She watched as the tall dark haired woman was whisked away by her fellow pilots and she realized that she was needed up on the bridge.

Glancing down at what she was wearing she realized that she did not have time to change and raced to the bridge. The hallways were bathed in a red glow as the normal lighting had been replaced by the red alert lighting.

Stepping onto the bridge she was greeted by Commander Omega and the others that were already on the bridge. Rhea ignored the stares she was getting form the commander and went to her post to see what was going on.

"Good to see that you made it up here quickly," Omega said to her as she took her post. "Most new recruits would have tried to change, and if this was a real attack then every second counts."

Rhea now really groaned as she realized that it was just a drill. She could not blame them for doing it, she just wished that it had been a few minutes later after she had gotten pilots name. She listened as all of the stations reported in on how long it too them to go to battle stations.

"All stations have reported in commander," Sterk said after a few more minutes looking up at Omega.

"Not bad," Omega said looking at the time that it took to get the battlestar to battle stations. It was better to get them ready now then later and even though it was not as fast as the Galactica it was better than he thought it would be with so many new recruits.

Rhea wondered how long they would remain on alert. She glanced over to where Omega was and he was taking in the reports of the different areas. After a few more minutes he canceled the alert drill and called for all head staff members to report to the meeting room. Rhea just shook her head as she realized that she would be in the meeting and any chance of her learning the pilots name was lost for the moment.

Rhea walked behind Omega to what would be used as the council room but instead it was just a meeting room. They had to wait for a while as several others came up from where they were posted. Rhea noticed that Apollo had joined them along with another man and she realized that he had to be Starbuck.

"Everyone thank you for coming, let's get the meeting underway," Omega said. "The reaction time was not bad but I do want to cut it down does anyone have any suggestions."

Rhea sat and listened to the meeting not really sure what to say or do. She decided that she would just watch for the moment unless someone asked her anything.



Toni made it to the hanger where she was met by Sheba. The squad leader was just standing there and directing the pilots to certain areas.

"Glad to see you're here so quickly," Sheba replied. "There is no alert, this is a drill to get the new recruits ready for the real thing."

Toni wanted to punch whoever had decided that they had to do the alert at the moment they did. She was just moments away from learning the name of the blonde woman when the alert had sounded.

"I'm getting the squads into groups and then we'll go over what to do in case of an actual alert when they get to the hanger," Sheba told her. "Gold squad is over there, wait with them for now until everyone is there."

Toni walked on over to the small group leading a few others with her. The excitement of the alert was still evident in their eyes.

A few minutes later after the last of the group had arrived in the hanger and Sheba had reported to the bridge she walked over to them. She was a bit impressed at the group as she looked them over.

"As fighter pilots we must be even better than any other group on the Hyperion. It will be our job to defend the fleet in case of an actual attack. There are changes of clothing in case you need it. Don't head back to you barracks if you are dressed in something else," Sheba told the group.

Toni realized that was why the fighter pilots were always in their combat uniform. It saved them time from having to change in case of an alert.

Sheba then went over what they would do in case of an actual emergency and had them run through it a few times going from the barracks to their fighters.

She brought the group together one more time before dismissing them. She waited until all of Gold squad was present.

"As you all know I am Gold leader, but I have decided my second in command, it will be Toni," Sheba said giving the nod to Toni.

Most of her squad was not really surprised by the announcement. A few of the newer people thought that it should be someone else but they did not say anything.

"Toni will be Gold 2, and the rest will be assigned random numbers, if you have a lucky number under a hundred that you wish to have let me know," Sheba told the group. They had learned that only the leader and second in command should be in order; otherwise there arose a competition among the pilots that was not needed by an unintentional ranking.

"There is one more thing," Sheba said before dismissing the group. "All squadrons consist of two groups, one is lead by the leader the other is lead by the second in command. This is only in effect when our squad had multiple missions."

"We will be telling you who is on what team later on after we are further into your training," Sheba said. "Okay, if you're off you may leave otherwise head back to your duty station."

The group broke up and went on their way. Toni stayed for a few seconds and a couple of the other guys came up to her.

"Toni, just wanted you to know that we're excited for you," one said and she realized that he was someone that would be on her team in the sports game.

"Thanks," she said.

"We were able to finish all the organization and we have sixteen teams. Jason is working on a schedule of play for the teams," the other one said.

"I'm on your team," Toni said knowing that they had asked.

"Yep," he replied.

"Jason should post the entire schedule and let the teams get together and play when they can, that would give them more flexibility and they can post the score of the game after it's over," Toni said. Until they were more organized it would probably work better.

"That could work, I think I'll go tell Jason that idea," he said and he left the room.

Toni wondered where she should go. She headed toward the game room to see if the blonde had gone back there. If she was not there then perhaps the rec room or the cafeteria.

The game room was full but she did not see the blonde woman there. She went on to the rec room. There were a few people in there and she noticed that Jason was there along with a few others as they went over the league, but no blonde. She finally went to the cafeteria but she was not there either. Decided to have something to eat grabbed some food then headed back to her bed to get some sleep for her next patrol.

Quickly changing she got into her bed and fell asleep dreaming of green eyes and blonde hair.



Rhea finally got out of the meeting and she wondered where the pilot might be. Her stomach growled and she realized that she was hungry. She figured that she would eat first and maybe the pilot might be in there.

Finishing up her meal she wondered where else the pilot might be. Thinking that the tall woman might have gone back to her barracks Rhea decided to head there first. Finding the room was a bit hard as she found the male barracks first.

She rounded a corner and found the one she was looking for. She poked her head into the room and did not see who she was looking for.

Walking out of there she thought about where else to go. She decided on the game room thinking that maybe she went back there. She walked into the room and while it had thinned out compared to what it had been earlier the tall dark haired woman was not there.

Her last chance was the rec room. Walking in there she noticed a few pilots around one of the tables but not who she was looking for. Not finding who she was looking for she decided to head back to her quarters and get some sleep. She would try again tomorrow.

Rhea woke up the next morning feeling quite well rested and the faintest remembrance of a very good dream. She stretched and began to get dressed.

"That must have been some dream," Janiel said as she emerged from the bathroom spotting Rhea who was now awake.

"What do you mean," Rhea asked not sure what her room mate meant.

"You were moaning Xena quite a bit last night," Janiel said with a smile.

Rhea tried to figure it out but just could not remember her dream. She was a bit disappointed by that as according to her room mate it was a good one.

"You really don't remember do you," Janiel said seeing that Rhea was not blushing or anything. "Come on, we've got duty in about twenty minutes."

Rhea quickly dressed and the headed towards the cafeteria. Glanced up she noticed a tall dark haired woman leaving the cafeteria dress as a pilot. 'Damn,' Rhea thought to herself as she realized she just missed the pilot.

Janiel noticed the look and who it was directed at. She had met several other pilots and knew that a new sport had sprung up on the ship. There were several women in the league and she had briefly thought about joining then decided against it. She also knew that the tall dark haired woman was on a team. It would be easy to find out when she played.

Janiel and Rhea arrived at the bridge and began their work. The Hyperion was coordinating a patrol today with the two battlestars. They would be seeing how well the pilots and crews worked together. They would be pairing a pilot with another one from one of the other two battlestars.

Rhea looked at the schedule and noticed that Gold 2 was paired with Blue leader. She went and gather the data from the Galactica for the patrol route and waited.

"Core command to gold 2, transferring coordinates," Rhea said to the pilot.

"Transfer complete," came the smooth voice that she realized was the dark haired pilot.

"Acknowledged Gold 2, core command transferring launch control gold 2, launch when ready," Rhea said wanting to ask the pilot her name.

"Acknowledged," came the reply.

Toni pushed the thruster button and felt the acceleration of the launch and then followed her coordinates to meet up with blue leader.

"I see you found me," Toni heard the pilot say as she formed up on blue leader. Toni realized that her wing mate was Apollo.

"No trouble here," Toni said as they began their search.

The patrol was another boring ride for Toni and part of her was ready to get back to the Hyperion. They made the last turn on the patrol and began back to the fleet.

Upon landing she realized that it was a different controller that was giving her landing instructions. Toni was a bit disappointed that it was not the blonde. Toni thought that she might just go on up to the bridge, but she needed an excuse first. The only problem was if the blonde was not up there then she might have wasted her excuse.

She landed her fighter without any incident and this time she was not nervous about it. Sheba met Toni after she got out and complimented her on her landing. Toni was starting to get the hang of flying the vipers even though she had only two patrols.

Sheba was evaluating the simulations today to see if people were making any progress in their training. She also wanted to talk with Toni about who to put in which group.

Sheba led Toni back to their barracks so they could sit down and determine who went were and what type of training the people would need. Sheba was also using this as a training tour to see how well Toni would react to a leadership role.

Toni was glad when they were finally done going over everyone. She had gotten better at looking at a pilot's skill and determining what might be done to improve it. Sheba had also been impressed with Toni and the way she studied each person and never gave a common answer.

Toni had just finished when a couple of the guy came into the room. They looked up wondering what they wanted.

"Toni, are you free at the moment," one that Toni recognized as Jason said.

Toni looked to Sheba who said that they had finished. "Yeah, what's up Jason," Toni asked.

"Well, there is a team that is also free and we were wondering if you would like to play the game with them," he asked. "Right now the game room is empty."

"Let me change," Toni said as the two men went out of the room like little kids.

"Well, it seems that your game has sparked quite a lot of interest on board," Sheba said as Toni changed.

"I really didn't think that it would, but it has," Toni said knowing that she would have to postpone her looking for the blonde. Toni finished and walked out of the door towards the game room.



Rhea walked down the corridor towards her quarters when Janiel came walking up beside her. She appeared to be carrying some news by the way her eyes twinkled.

"You want to go to the game room. There are starting a new league for a new game and the first game will be in just a little bit," Janiel asked wondering of her room mate would go with her.

Rhea thought about it for a few seconds before making up her mind. She decided that she would go. She walked into her quarters and change into something more comfortable.

Walking back out she decided that she would watch a bit then head on over to the cafeteria for a bit to eat. The she really was not sure what she would do. She was not tired but she really did not want to do anything.

She followed Janiel into the room and sat down next to her. She wondered what type of game this was, there were several people already in the stands and Janiel did say that the game was new. She watched as a team of four took to the field. They were all dressed in a deep blue color.

The other team was dress in a gold color. She glanced at the team and noticed that one of them was a woman with long black hair. The woman turned around and Rhea could not believe her luck, there was her woman.

Rhea reviewed what she had just thought, 'her woman'. She did not even now the woman's name and already she thought of her as hers. The tall woman might not even be attracted to her. Somewhere inside her a part of her was laughing at her.

Rhea watched no one else but the tall woman as if she was memorizing the woman's every movement. She just could not tear herself away from the woman's form. She cheered when the woman scored the first goal of the game and when they went on to win the game. Rhea had counted that the woman had two goals and had set up two others.

Now Rhea had a dilemma. She had to follow the woman or else they might continue to play the game of tag. Rhea was not really interested in playing that game anymore and she tried to make her way to where the players were being congratulated.

Rhea had to jump up and down a couple of time to see where she was going as she tried to make her way to the players. She could catch a glimpse of the tall woman and she tried to push her way to the front. During the course of the game she had learned the woman's name, Toni.

Just as she got to the front of the group she spotted Toni begin to leave the room. She quickly backtracked to the door and got there just as Toni walked out of the room with her excited team mates.

"Toni," Rhea said watching as the tall woman stop and turned around. Now Rhea had Toni's attention and she felt her mouth go dry as Toni's blues eyes pierced through her.

"Hi," Toni said softly as she spotted the blonde. She had been hoping that she would be able to find the woman after the game. "Hey guys I'll catch up to you later," Toni said to the other three guys with her.

The glanced at each other than the blonde and decided to head back to their barracks.

"I was hoping that I would see you again real soon," Toni said getting her brain to work. She had not expected to see the blonde after the game.

"You were pretty good out there Toni," Rhea said remembering how the woman played.

"You seem to know my name, what's yours," Toni said watching as a slight blush colored the blonde's cheeks.

"It's Rhea," she replied not really believing that she had forgotten something like that. She had been so involved in getting to Toni that she had forgotten that part.

"Rhea," Toni replied. "I like it. How about I shower and change out of this and I meet you in the rec room in a half an hour."

"Deal," Rhea said knowing that she could that time to also shower and freshen up as well. She had been on duty for most of the day and she was ready to get out of her uniform for a few hours.

Janiel watched as Rhea breezed into the room and went straight to the shower without even saying hi. Janiel thought that Rhea had probably finally met Toni. Janiel watched a bit amused as Rhea emerged a bit later and fussed over her appearance as she brushed her hair.

Rhea then rushed out without even talking to Janiel with one last look in the mirror. Janiel had to smile at that and was tempted to follow Rhea to see what was going on, but figured she would hear about it from the pilots she was flirting with on her off duty.

Rhea walked into the rec room hoping to see Toni sitting down. The room only had a few people and she realized that she was a bit early. Looking around she spotted a table that was off from the rest.

"Fancy meeting you here," a voice said from behind her. Rhea twirled around and found herself face to face with Toni. "Did you find a table, or would you rather get something to eat, I did have anything to eat since breakfast."

"Sure," Rhea replied as her stomach choose that moment to growl.

"Looks like you could use some food as well," Toni said as they made their way to the cafeteria. It was only about half full and they were able to find a place to sit easily.

"You're gold 2," Rhea asked as they sat down at an empty table.

"Yes, and your the flight controller," Toni replied.

"Actually senior flight control officer," Rhea replied.

"So you must know a lot about running a battlestar," Toni said knowing that the position that Rhea held was quite high on the command structure.

"Actually not much, I'm still in training for that part," Rhea replied.

"So you're a new recruit like me," Toni replied wondering more and more about who Rhea was and what she liked.

"Actually I was recruited by Rigel to this position. I was originally the flight controller on the freighter Argo," Rhea said as she began to tell her story.

"My family was lucky during the holocaust that they Cylons brought, my father didn't trust the peace treaty and made us stay at home. We survived and he took us to the space port and we boarded the Argo. It left to meet up with the Galactica and I got a job of flight controller on the Argo," Rhea said telling Toni what had happened to her.

"Your family is still alive," Toni asked.

"My mother, father and sister are still aboard the Argo, but my twin brother went to the Agamemnon," Rhea said.

"You're lucky, my parent died in the holocaust and my brother was pilot aboard the Atlantia," Toni replied. Families like Rhea's were rare, and usually there was at least one person from each family killed. She had seen the results first hand on the ship she had been on.

"I'm sorry," Rhea said dropping her fork and reaching out and held the other woman's hand. It just felt right to her.

"Thanks," Toni said quietly as she remembered a blonde hair boy in the group of recruits. He had gone to the Agamemnon. "Your brother's name is Aaron right," Toni asked.

"Yes, you've met him already," Rhea asked.

"He does have the same eye and hair like you," Toni said.

"That he does," Rhea said. "Why did you enlist and become a pilot?"

"I wanted to make a difference, and I feel like it's what my family would have wanted me to do," Toni replied.

"Excuse me," a pilot said walking up to them. Toni was not familiar with the man and she wondered what he wanted.

"You look like someone I knew," the man said. "My name's Tries."

"Toni," she replied then pointed to Rhea and gave her name.

"No, I thought I had met you somewhere else before, oh well sorry for interrupting you," Tries said then walked off.

"He really seemed to think he knew you," Rhea said as she watched the man walk off.

"Yeah he did, at first I thought he would try a dumb pick up line on one of us," Toni said turning her attention back to Rhea.

"It wouldn't have worked, at least on me," Rhea said then thought she might have said too much.

"Are you seeing someone already," Toni asked hoping that the answer was no.

"Well, not yet, but there is someone," Rhea said quietly as she looked directly into Toni's blue eyes.

Toni was momentarily struck by what Rhea had just said as her brain took a few seconds to comprehend the words. Rhea thought Toni looked adorable when she was flustered.

"Is it anyone that I know," Toni said getting her brain to finally engage.

"I think so, you know her probably real well," Rhea said.

"I'll let her know for you," Toni said with a bit of a smile.

"Tell Sheba hi for me," Rhea said with a smile watching as Toni coughed a bit. Toni glanced up at Rhea and knew she had been had by the smile Rhea had.

"All right I will," Toni said playing along for the moment.

A couple of hours later Rhea and Toni finally had to call it a day if they were to get any sleep for tomorrow. Toni had no patrols, but Rhea would be busy with some training. Toni walked Rhea back to her quarters and they stopped in front of them.

"I guess this is good night," Toni said looking down into Rhea's green eyes.

"Yeah, it is," Rhea said hoping that Toni would kiss her.

"I should probably let you go and get some sleep," Toni said feeling a bit awkward about the situation. She wanted to kiss Rhea, but did not want to frighten the girl off.

Instead Toni gave Rhea a hug to wish her good night. As Toni began to release Rhea she found the smaller woman taking the first step and gave Toni a light kiss on the lips.

"Good night," Rhea whispered and went inside her quarters leaving a stunned Toni standing outside her door.

A bright smile lit up Toni's features and she walked with a spring in her step back to the barracks.

Continued in Part 3