Part 3: Plan

"Speak centurion," the male voice said to the Cylon that had entered his command room.

"By you command," came the standard reply from the Cylon. "Our long range probe has uncovered a large number of ships headed past the old boundaries of the Delphian Empire."

"The human fleet," the man said. "And Adama will be there with them."

"The last reported contact with the Galactica showed that they were on a different course," the centurion replied.

"Of course they were. It was a deception. They showed you one way and went another," the man said. "How many basestars are in the area?"

"There are five basestars in the area," the centurion replied.

"Get me the commanders and a star map of the area," he ordered and watched as the centurion walked out. The man laughed at the thought that the Galactica along with Adama would finally be destroyed once and for all.



Toni had made it to the cafeteria just in time to catch Rhea as she left. They made plans to meet for lunch as Toni decided she could go up to the bridge to meet Rhea there. The rest of the morning was spent in simulations and training.

She walked down to the hanger to check out her fighter as she still had an hour before she had to meet with Rhea. After lunch she and Sheba would be going over the results of the pilots then giving them their results.

"I tell you, we are never going to reach Earth," Toni heard a voice say.

"I know, it's just a fib that someone made up to give us hope. If it were up to me we'd stop at the nearest habitable planet and settle down. We've got three battlestars now, we can defend ourselves," another man said.

"Easy," another voice said. This voice was a cold calculating voice. "The plans are already in the works for a change."

"Yeah, when, I'm getting tired of playing along with everyone," the first voice said.

"We are getting people into position now, the high command is still hard to crack, but we have managed it," the cold voice said.

Toni moved quietly to a spot that she could see but not be seen and waited to see who had been talking. The implications that she had heard left a bad taste in her mouth.

She watched as three men walked out, two were ground crews; she would have to be careful. The third was an older gentleman who appeared to be in good shape. He was bald and she had never seen him before. She made a mental note to find out who he was.

Once everything had gotten back to normal she went over to her fighter and checked it out. She had whistled as she approached it like she had just gotten there.

One of the men looked up at her and she waved at him. "How are you doing today," Toni asked the man who smiled back.

"Good, you're down here again," the man said. They had noticed that several pilots had been coming down to the hangers, most of them new recruits learning about the vipers.

"I've been promoted and I'm trying to learn as much as I can," Toni replied like nothing was wrong.

Toni made chitchat with the ground crews until it was time for her to meet up with Rhea. Toni excused herself saying that she had a lunch date, which was true and walked out of the hanger.

She walked onto the bridge and looked around to see where Rhea was. She was sitting at her station looking a bit bored. There were no patrols out at the moment by the Hyperion so she was looking at the scanners watching the ships stay in line with each other.

The bridge was quite quiet for a change and Toni walked over to where Rhea was.

"Ready for lunch," Toni asked as she stood by Rhea. She watched as the blonde head looked up to her and nodded her head.

"You bet," Rhea said with a smile. "Janiel, I'm going to lunch now you need anything?"

"I fine," Janiel replied.

"Colonel Sterk," Rhea said to the current officer of the bridge. He nodded his head and watched as they left. He wondered how long it would take before he heard a rumor about those two.

"How has your day been so far," Toni asked Rhea as they walked down the corridor to the cafeteria. Rhea replied that he day had been quite boring as she was still learning how to command a battlestar. Toni realized that it would take a while before she could be ready.

The got to the cafeteria and were able to get their food quickly. Rhea and Toni sat down and Toni was trying to figure if there was anything she should tell Rhea about what she had heard earlier.

"I overheard something earlier in the hanger and I don't really know who to trust yet," Toni said and that made Rhea look up. "I'd like to tell you because you're on the bridge and will be able to learn more than me, but I think that we should talk in private."

Rhea looked at Toni and realized that she was serious about this. She thought about it for a few seconds and then agreed. She figured that the safest place to talk would be her quarters. They agreed to meet her in her quarters after she got off duty.

"How's your brother doing," Toni asked knowing that he was a pilot on the Agamemnon but had not heard anything form the pilots on that battlestar yet.

"He's having the time of his life. I guess you could say it was something that he always wanted, to be a fighter pilot," Rhea replied thinking about the last message she had received from her brother. He had been training with Apollo and was about to be on his own.

"That's good. I'm wondering when I'll be a flight leader on a patrol. I'm not really sure if I'm looking forward to it or not," Toni said.

"You'll do fine," Rhea said.

They finished the meal and walked out of the cafeteria and towards the bridge. Rhea was a bit disappointed that Toni had mentioned nothing of her kiss last night. The slight kiss had excited her in more than one way and even a cold shower had done nothing to cool down some of the fires. It seemed to her that Toni perhaps did not feel the same way.

It came as s surprise that just before the bridge Toni pulled her to a stop. Toni had glanced around to make sure that no one was around as she did not want the rumors to be circling around just yet. The slight kiss had kept Toni up almost all night as she could not get the feel of Rhea's lips out of her mind.

Toni decided to return the favor and gave Rhea a small kiss like she had done last night.

"See you when you're off duty Rhea," Toni said with a bit of a smile as Rhea now stood there in shock. Toni waited only a few moments to make sure that Rhea would not fall down.

Rhea watched in a bit of a daze as Toni smiled and walked off. 'So that's how she wanted to play,' Rhea thought to herself as she finally got her mind working again. She walked onto the bridge still feeling a bit of a tingle but was concentrating on formulating a plan.

If Rhea had her way they would be more than friends before the day was over. She was sure now that Toni felt the same way she did. That thought made her smile a bit but she quickly wiped it off and concentrated on her job.

Omega watched as the short blonde walked back onto the bridge. He had been informed by Sterk about a possible romance between her and one of the pilots. He was not concerned with it as long as it did not affect her performance, Athena had a romantic fling with Starbuck and she still did her job even after Cassiopia came into the picture.

"Rhea, ready to learn some more about the command of a battlestar," he asked her. There would be patrols later, but now she had time to learn some more. He wanted to test her soon to make sure she could handle it.

Rhea groaned inwardly but nodded her head and walked over to where the man was standing.



Rhea was tired; the training was not physically tiring, but emotionally. She had learned a lot of things, mostly how to give commands and when. She also learned a bit about the fleet line Alpha one, which was the direct communications between warships. It was a message that was automatically scrambled.

Omega was watching Rhea carefully to see how she handled herself with the pressure and so far he was impressed. He looked around and noticed that it was getting close to switching time. They switched only parts of the crew, as each had a different set of hours. His was the longest, and he was almost always on duty.

"Sir, communication coming in from the Agamemnon," the communications officer said. Omega wondered what Tigh wanted now and figured that it would be a good test for Rhea. He motioned her to answer it.

Rhea opened the screen and noticed that it was Colonel Tigh, no commander, she corrected herself. "Hello Commander Tigh, what can I do for you," Rhea said.

"Is Omega there," he asked then saw him appear over Rhea's shoulder.

"What's up," Omega replied.

"You're Aaron's sister right," Tigh said to Rhea. Rhea replied that she was and Tigh relaxed a bit. "Commander Adama was poisoned earlier in the day."

"Is he alright," Omega asked concerned with the man who had been like a father to him the last couple of years.

"Thanks to Aaron yes," Tigh said. Rhea was glad that her brother was okay. When Tigh had mentioned his name she was concerned with him. Now she was concerned with the commander.

"What happened," Omega said.

"Aaron overheard someone talking about poisoning someone with ithicani. We alerted all medical staffs for a possible poisoning. Adama came walking into the medlab on the Galactica and Cassi was there. He'll be okay, but he will need rest so right now I'm in charge of the fleet," Tigh said.

"What do you want me to do," Omega asked.

"I'm going to make an announcement that the commander had a heart attack, it will give us some time to catch the people behind it. You might want to keep this information secret for a while," Tigh said watching as Omega agreed with him.

Rhea was a bit shocked at that. The commander had always seems so nice that she could not understand why anyone wanted to kill him.

"Well, we're trusting you to keep this quiet Rhea," Omega said knowing that this would be a big test of her abilities.

"I understand sir," Rhea replied as she was dismissed. She had a lot to think about as she walked to her quarters. She wondered if Toni was part of the group that tried to kill Commander Adama. She hoped that Toni was not.



Toni was glad when her shift was over. There appeared to be some tension in the air lately and she was wondering what was going on. She began to walk to the barracks as Sheba caught up with her. Toni hoped that she did not want to talk to much as she had just enough time to shower and get up to the bridge before Rhea got off.

"You're doing great in there," Sheba said as the walked to the barracks.

"Thanks, but I noticed that things seem to be a bit tense here. Is there something that I should know about," Toni asked as they continued to walk.

"I noticed it too, but I don't know the reason for it yet, glad I was the only one noticing it, thought that maybe I wasn't getting enough sleep or something," Sheba replied not really giving the entire truth. Bojay had taken her aside to tell her the news that Apollo had told him. Commander Adama had been poisoned.

Those who were considered loyal were told about what had happened, and they were also looking out for whoever did it. Sheba still was not sure if she could trust Toni with such information yet.

"I didn't see anyone who seemed to want to clash with others, they all seem to get along fine," Toni said. "It might be the fact that my team in the new game beat the mechanics pretty handily yesterday."

"Some sore losers," Sheba said thinking about it. That had happened before. "As long as it doesn't affect their abilities to perform their duties or endanger another person's life it doesn't matter. We'll probably want to talk with them about that next meeting."

"Sounds like a plan," Toni replied as they arrived at their barracks. She quickly went to the shower as she wanted to get to the bridge before Rhea got off. Sheba watched as Toni almost ran to the shower and then before she even was able to change was back out again and headed out the door.

Sheba figured that it probably had to do with the rumors of a certain blonde that Toni had been seen around lately. The tall woman was probably on her way to meet up with her. She wished that Apollo would give her some time alone, they were now assigned on different ships, but that could always change in the future.

Starbuck and Cassiopia were still aboard the Galactica with Apollo, and the latest rumor from Apollo was he would be asking Cassiopia to marry him. Sheba knew that the only one who really did not want that to happen was Athena, but she supposedly had another romantic interest. Sheba would have to wait to see if that was a ploy or real.

Sheba thought about Bojay, she and him had a fling aboard the Pegasus, but the decided to remain friends. They found out as lovers they fought more so they had decided to just be friends, and so far it was working. Bojay had told him that he was now seeing one of the flight controllers, someone named Janiel.

Sheba sighed and sat down at the table with her stack of papers. She needed go over the performance of the recruits and see how they were coming along, who needed more simulation, and who was ready for more patrols. She glanced at Toni's record and decided that it was almost time for her to fly as a patrol leader. Her performance so far had been as if she had flown for years.

She wondered if she could get Jolly or Boomer to fly second along with her on her first time. Just to observe and let her get comfortable with the leadership role. She made her recommendations for Toni then moved on to the next person.



Toni arrived up at the bridge as Rhea and Omega were talking in the center of the bridge. They appeared to be talking to another ship. Toni figured that it was another battlestar. By the look on Rhea's face she knew that it must be serious. She wondered if it had anything to do with what she had overheard earlier.

Toni really did not trust anyone except Rhea, and she wondered if she could even trust her. They said that they had someone in the high command now, could that person be Rhea? Her heart told her that she was being foolish for even thinking such a thought, but she had to be careful.

Rhea walked towards the door of the bridge and was so lost in thought that she almost missed Toni standing there. Toni was relieved when the smaller woman smiled at her.

"Fancy meeting you here," Toni said with an answering smile.

"It is a small galaxy," Rhea replied.

"Come on, I bet you're hungry," Toni said as Rhea's stomach growled. Rhea could not believe that her stomach just did that as Toni just laughed a bit and led her towards the cafeteria. It would probably be crowded already but she was also hungry.

They got their food and sat down next to each other. Toni looked at her food as a thought came to her. The warriors got more food then the others did, was it fair.

Rhea noticed that something was bugging her taller companion and asked what was wrong. She was not sure if she would get an answer or not.

"This one meal is almost as much as I got on board the freighter," Toni replied. "Is it fair that we get so much?"

Rhea could see the dilemma that her tall friend had. "If we are starving would we be able to do our jobs effectively," Rhea asked. "Were you starving on the freighter?"

Toni thought about that, no they were not starving as there was little to do. No one had died of hunger, and if things were really bad then she doubted that they would receive so much.

"The more active a person is the more fuel they need, we are quite active," Rhea said.

"You are quite persuasive Rhea," Toni said. She realized that the workers on the freighter did receive more than the others and no one really gave it much thought. "So what were you and the commander talking about earlier when I arrived on the bridge?"

"Nothing really, he was teaching me how to use the fleet communications when Commander Tigh called," Rhea replied not saying the whole truth. She had promised to keep the secret of what had happened to Commander Adama.

They finished eating with normal light talking. Toni talked about her brother and how he always wanted to join the military. Rhea could relate that way; her brother was the same way. He was almost jumping up and down when he heard that they were recruiting again. They both talked about the beauty of their homeworlds, and they were both sad that they would never see them again. Rhea just wanted to see a sunset again.

They made their way to Rhea's quarters after they finished eating. Rhea wanted to freshen up a bit. Toni asked if she wanted to go watch the game that was being played. Rhea thought about that for a second. She was not that interested in the game, but it would mean she could spend time with Toni so she agreed.

Rhea invited Toni into her quarters and she went to get changed. Toni glanced around and noticed a picture of Rhea and her family. She wished that her family had survived as well, but it did not turn out that way. She was making new friends and she hoped that with Rhea maybe even more. She felt like she could trust the smaller woman and with that thought knew that she would tell Rhea about what she had overheard.

Rhea came out of the bathroom feeling much better. She glanced at Toni and noticed that she was looking at her picture of her family. Rhea knew that she was lucky in that her family survived intact. She walked over to Toni and put her arm around her.

"Rhea, there's something that I need to tell you, I overheard something earlier in the day in the hanger," Toni said hoping that she could trust Rhea.

Rhea wondered what Toni had heard, and a part of her wondered if it had to do with the attempt on Adama's life. She sat down on the bed and waited patiently for Toni to finish what she was going to say.

"It seems that there are some who are dissatisfied with the way Commander Adama is handling the situation. They are going to move against the high command of the fleet and they had someone working with them," Toni said watching as Rhea digested the news.

"What do you believe," Rhea asked wondering what Toni felt about the commander's performance.

"He knows what he is doing," Toni replied carefully. "I think that to stop would be foolish right now."

Rhea let out a small breath. "I believe you," Rhea said. "I feel the same way. You were right about me earlier, there was more going on when I was talking with Commander Omega. Commander Adama had been poisoned and if you say that someone in the high command is working with them then we need to find out who it is."

"Who is in the command positions," Toni asked.

"Commander Adama and Athena on the Galactica, Commander Tigh on the Agamemnon and Commander Omega, Colonel Sterk, and Colonel Bobbie on the Hyperion, they are the only ones I know of. I don't think that either Commander Tigh or Omega would be in on the plan, but Colonel Sterk or Bobbie I don't know," Rhea said realizing that things had just gotten worse.

"I think that we should proceed cautiously. Probably the only person we can trust is Commander Omega, as he already knows. Someone on board this ship could be part of whatever is going on," Toni said trusting Rhea. "We should tell Omega, or perhaps you should. If I make the right amount of noise I might be able to infiltrate the group."

"I don't like the sound of that," Rhea said knowing somehow that Toni was going to try to infiltrate the group to see what was really going on.

"It's the easiest way to find things out. I'll be careful," Toni promised.

"I still don't like it," Rhea replied. The plan meant that Toni would be in danger, and that was something she did not want to see.

Toni was about to reply to that when the door to Rhea's quarters opened and Janiel walked into the room. Rhea was startled as she did not realize how much time had passed while they were talking.

"Oh, sorry Rhea, didn't know that you were busy," Janiel said as she looked at the scene in front of her. She let a slight smile pass her lips as she notice who Rhea had in their quarters.

Toni was a bit disappointed that the night had been interrupted but now that she knew where Rhea was she would make sure to visit often. She knew that she wanted the smaller woman and that she wanted her, it would only be a matter of time.

"I guess that I should be going now," Toni said watching as some disappointment appeared on Rhea's face. "I'll see you later for sure." Toni was about to leave then decided turned back to the small blonde. In a quick motion she captured the blonde's lips in a gentle kiss.

Rhea's eyes fluttered closed at the contact and she longed to deepen it but Toni broke off. She watched as Rhea's eyes fluttered open and saw the longing in them. She had definitely guessed right and was pleased to see the reaction.

"I'll see you later," Toni said then walked out of the room leaving Rhea there swaying. Then with a wink at her she walked out of the room.

"Well, I see that someone had a good time," Janiel said with a slight laugh in her voice.



Rhea walked down to the bridge hoping that she would be able to talk with Omega in private. She also hoped that none of the others would be on the bridge. She walked on and noticed that Omega was standing in the middle of the bridge along with Colonel Sterk. She would wait until Omega was along before talking to him.

"Hey Mary, how's the traffic," Rhea asked as she sat down next to Mary. The woman was new and had been working with the Grace on the procedures.

"Slow today Rhea, but it should pick up later on as we have patrol duties," Mary replied. Rhea nodded her head and glanced at the patrol schedule. She noticed that gold two was on the list. That had to be Toni, Rhea was sure about it.

"I heard that you were seen with a pilot last night," Mary said with a grin as she glanced over to Rhea.

"Great, it's all over the ship now," Rhea said knowing that it would be impossible to keep something like that a secret for long. And they were seen in several places together so it was only natural that rumors would develop especially when their sexual preference was discovered.

She was glad that people did not care anymore about the sexual preference of people.

"I've heard that you two make a good couple," Mary said really not wanting to embarrass Rhea any further.

Rhea blushed anyway. People were already putting them together and she hoped that it did not put Toni in any danger when she tried her plan. It would be bound to get around that she was Aaron's sister.

"Morning Rhea," Omega said as he walked over to where she was sitting. "Mary, I have something important to tell you two," Omega said serious.

Rhea wondered what it was that he wanted to tell them. She figured that it probably was not about the poisoning as Mary was still an unknown, and he probably would have told her privately when she got on the bridge.

"We just learned that Commander Adama had a heart attack yesterday and will be laid up for the next couple of days. Until he comes back Commander Tigh is in charge of the fleet and the current flagship is the Agamemnon," he told them. Rhea definitely looked the part of being concerned, which she was.

"That's horrible," Mary exclaimed as he eyes widened at the news. Her reaction seemed to be truly concern for the commander.

"Is there anything that the doctors say that caused it," Rhea asked.

"He just needs to eat healthier that's all," Omega replied as Rhea nodded her head.

Omega began to walk back to his command area and Rhea decided that now was the time to tell him that she had some information for him. She got up after him and caught up to him.

"Commander," she said and Omega turned around and had a wondering look on his face. "I need to talk privately with you later on." she said to him.

"Come by my office when you get off," he said then she turned around when back to her duties.



Toni stepped onto the hanger and walked towards her fighter. She was going on patrol with another recruit like herself. She had more experience than he had but it was not much.

Sheba had come to her and told her that she would be leading the patrol this time. Toni knew that it was a test of her skill. She had gone over the entire mission several times and several more in her head as she went over every possible encounter she could have.

"Hey Toni," came a voice that Toni recognized as one of the hanger crew. He would be in charge of making sure her viper was ready.

"Hey, how are you today," Toni replied.

"Not bad, been thinking a bit," the man replied.

"I know what you mean, another boring patrol. I don't think that we will ever see the Cylons again," Toni said then deciding to continue when she did not receive a negative reaction from the crewman. "I really should be looking for a habitable planet for our people."

The crewman nodded his head as Toni continued to her viper. She did not see the man follow her with his eyes but she knew that the first phase of her plan was underway. She would nave told Sheba, but that might lead to suspicion and she needed to have her ignorant for now.

Toni climbed up into her viper fighter and the crewman handed her the helmet and gave her a wink. She placed it on and heard the familiar voice from the bridge.

"Core command transferring patrol coordinates to viper patrol," came the voice that Toni knew was Rhea.

"Viper patrol acknowledged transfer," Toni replied. She really wanted to say more but would hold off for now.

"Core command transferring launch controls to viper patrol, launch when ready," Rhea told the patrol.

Toni flipped up the switches to start up the viper's engines and then with a breath she pushed the thrusters button. She felt the acceleration of the viper as it sped down the launch tube. Within seconds she was out into space with her wing mate just behind her.

"Form up on me gold ten," Toni said watching on her scanner as the pilot entered position. She then turned her viper to the first coordinates of their patrol.

The patrol was actually quite dull and she managed to fly them to their coordinates and back without any problems. She wondered how long she had to question Adama's authority and she would have to talk with Rhea in case she became a suspect as well. Toni guessed that it could wait until the end of her duty.

Toni came back and was glad to hear Rhea's voice directing her to one of the hangers to land in. She hoped that she would hear that voice for a long time. Her landing went quite smoothly as she realized that she was getting the hang of the fighter. It was almost like the simulators, except for the g-forces of the turns and acceleration.



Rhea waited until she got off then went towards her quarters before heading towards the commander's office. She watched to make sure that she was not followed and who was watching her as she approached the office.

She was granted entrance after knocking on the door. Opening the door she was glad to see that the office was empty except for Omega. She had been preparing something in case he was with someone.

"Come in Rhea," Omega said as Rhea walked into the office. He had been wondering what she wanted to talk to him about and he figured that now he would find out.

"Commander," she replied wondering how to break the news. "A friend of mine overheard someone talking on the hanger. They were mentioning the fact that they are about ready to make their move now that they have someone in a high command position."

Omega sat back and thought about that. The commanders of each of the battlestars were trustworthy; the second in commands were a bit shaky though. The next in line for command could be the ones. He definitely would have to speak with commander Tigh about this one. They would also have to contact Athena about a possible suspicious superior on the Galactica.

"Thanks, we've known that some in the council are against the commander but nothing that could lead to murder. There has to be another person in charge," Omega finally said.

"Well, my friend is also going to try and infiltrate the group," Rhea said hoping that telling him was not a mistake.

"I hope she finds something soon, and is careful," Omega said. He now had something to tell Tigh when the talked and with an investigation on the outside and a hopeful person on the inside this group might be broken up. The ones who complained were not really dangerous; it was the ones who acted.

Omega thanked Rhea for her information and she promised to keep her informed about everything. Rhea walked out of the office looking around to see if anyone was around to watch her. If she did this too often then she would endanger Toni by association and that was something she did not want to do.

Rhea returned to her quarters hoping that she and Toni could still have dinner and perhaps some lounging around. Janiel was already dressing as she turned to look at Rhea.

"Toni came by, she says that she has a game now and was wondering if you were going to come, I told her that I'd tell you," Janiel said.

"Oh, Rhea said a bit disappointed that she had missed Toni, but she would not miss the game. "Of course I'll be at the game. Are you coming as well?"

"And miss watching the guys run around half naked and sweaty, are you crazy," Janiel replied as she changed. Rhea chuckled as she had seen Janiel chase any guy that came into her sight. Rhea thought that she was currently seeing Bojay but she had not asked her about it much like Janiel did not say anything to her about Toni.

In a few minutes they had completed changing and were walking towards the game room. They found some seats and settled down to watch the game. Actually they watched the players, Rhea watched Toni while Janiel was watching the guys and they did not know the score of the game when it was over. Rhea was just happy that Toni's team won as it put a smile on Toni's face.

Toni had spotted Rhea the moment the blonde woman had walked into the room. They had exchanged glances several times during the game and Toni found herself playing harder trying to impress Rhea who she knew was watching her.

"How'd you like it," Toni said coming up to Rhea after the game. They both had a smile on their face as they looked at each other.

"The game itself, I don't know," Rhea replied watching as an eyebrow went up at the comment. "I was too busy watching you."

"Ah, thought so," Toni said. Rhea seemed like one who was not really interested in sports, but like to watch her play.

"Come on, let's get something to eat, after you clean up," Rhea said tugging Toni out of the room.

"Any luck," Rhea asked as they walked down the corridor.

"I think so," Toni replied softly in case anyone was listening.

They arrived at Toni's barracks and Rhea said that she would head up to the cafeteria and get them something to eat. Toni told what she wanted and Rhea nodded and walked on up to the cafeteria.

Toni rushed through the shower and finished dressing in order to meet up with Rhea. She was just about to walk out when a man came walking into the room.

"Can I help you," Toni asked not really sure who the man was.

"I'm looking for Toni," he said.

"You found her, talk quick I've got a date waiting," Toni said not really wanting to miss time with Rhea.

"Is it true that you don't think that Earth exists," he asked her.

"There is no proof that it exists except for an ancient legend," Toni said.

"Meet me here in an hour," he said handing her a piece of paper and then left the room.

Toni glanced at the location on the paper. It was in the engineering room and she had less than an hour to be with Rhea. This is not what she wanted; now she had to think of something to say to Rhea to leave her for probably the night with letting anyone know what was going on. She had a strong suspicion that she was going to be watched.

Walking up to the cafeteria she quickly found Rhea sitting down with two trays. She walked over and sat down next to her.

"That was quick," Rhea replied. She really was not expecting Toni for another five minutes.

"Would have been here sooner but one of the men in my squad needed some help. I'm going to help him out a bit after we eat."

"Oh," Rhea replied a bit disappointed at that. She was really hoping that they could spend the evening together.

Toni heard the disappointment in Rhea's voice and wished that she did not have that damned meeting.

"I'll make it up to you I promise," Toni said seeing a bit of a pout on Rhea's lips. Bending down she kissed the smaller woman who responded as the kiss went on much longer than either of them anticipated.

Toni then was a bit reluctant to leave but knew that she had to otherwise she would miss a grand opportunity to solve a mystery. After saying good night she went aft of the ship towards an area of engineering that they were meeting at.

Approaching the group she noticed that most of them were men but there were a few women. Toni looked for anyone that she thought looked familiar but only one looked familiar. Toni thought that she had seen the woman before on the bridge of the Hyperion. She would have to talk to Rhea about the woman.

"Toni, glad you could make it," the man said who had invited her.

"Rob, who is she," another person said looking right at Toni.

"Relax Max, she's cool," the first man replied.

"If not I'll hold you responsible," the man who was called Max replied.

"Max, save it," the woman said as everyone stopped their talking. Toni could tell that she was the one in control of the group. The woman had to have a high rank on the battlestar as Toni recognized the sound of a commander.

"We have more work to do than bickering among ourselves," the woman said. "I've identified those who need to be either eliminated or kept under control for our taking command of the battlestar."

Toni listened to the list of name that the woman listed seeing if there were any names that she recognized. One was her commander Sheba, and Commander Omega. She was glad to hear that he was in on the rebel group.

The meeting went on a bit longer than she expected as she looked at the time. Toni realized that she had to get going.

"I hate to be rude, but is there anything that you need me to know before I leave," Toni said interrupting the woman.

"Why do you ask," the woman asked looking at Toni.

"If I'm much later to my meeting with Sheba then I might raise suspicion of where I was," Toni said watching as Max looked at her at the mention of Sheba's name.

"Why do you have a meeting with Sheba," the man asked in an accusing tone.

"She's my commander, I'm second in command of Gold squadron," Toni answered. It did not ease the man's frown but the woman understood what Toni was saying.

"Get going, we'll contact you as to when we will begin our move," she said. "Let me know if there are any others in Gold squad that need to be watched."

"Yes ma'am," Toni said and then walked away to meet with Sheba for their nightly meeting to discuss what missions and training they would do tomorrow in case anything needed to be changed.



Sheba watched the next couple of days a bit concerned with the people that Toni was beginning to hang out with. The only one who Sheba liked was Rhea. Toni had begun to hang out with some elements of the landing bay crews. Especially those who showed some emotion to settling down on the nearest planet that supported life.

Sheba watched that morning as Toni and Rhea walked into the room and sat down. It was a morning ritual that they did. The rumors on the ship were they were a couple and glancing at the two women Sheba did not have any reason to think otherwise. In fact she thought that they made a nice couple, like Starbuck and Cassiopia.

Sheba watched as breakfast was over and Toni and Rhea walked out of the cafeteria. She glanced around and caught a few people glancing their way. She made a note to keep an eye on those. One was a pilot that she had gotten aquatinted with, his name was Tries and he looked to have something on his mind.

Sheba knew that the man was on the Atlantia during the last battle. He was the only survivor of the battlestar. Apollo said that the man was a loner and she felt like she understood. There were few people who had survived from the Pegasus and they had formed a tight bond that most outsiders could not understand. Tries was a band of one.

Sheba finished off her meal and went left the cafeteria to head to the landing bay to begin the next round of patrols. Walking out of the room she noticed that Toni and Rhea were standing close to the exit talking like a couple of school kids. Rhea was up against the wall and Toni had her hands on the wall on either side of Rhea's head. Both had smiles on their faces and Sheba decided to continue to walk on.

"Looks like your commander is heading to the landing bay," Rhea replied as she had seen Sheba glance their way before continuing on towards the landing bay elevator.

"Let her wait," Toni replied looking into Rhea's green eyes. Toni realized that the smaller woman was right and she needed to get moving. Bending down she gave Rhea a deep kiss then went to the landing bay leaving a bit wobbly Rhea still leaning against the wall.

"I'll definitely get you for that Toni," Rhea said as she regained her senses and walked to the bridge.


Continued In Part 4