Part 2 Battlestar Galactica: Back To The Colonies: Departures

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: DEPARTURES

PROLOGUE

October 29th, 2044, Richmond, Virginia

Admiral Kara Thrace-Bond was in her bedroom at the Bond household in Richmond. She had two weeks off before reporting back to Australia in preparation for the launching of a fleet of fifty-six ships that would be sailing back to the Twelve Colonies in December. She wasn't relaxing; she was studying on her computer, at her desk, taking notes on the latest information that UED had sent her.

The proving run of her ship, the Battlestar Laura Roslin had been a great success, with ship and crew performing far above her expectations. The finale of the proving cruise had been an all-out simulated battle between the Roslin and Lee Adama's ship, the Battlestar William Adama. The two gargantuan Colonial Class Battlestars-the largest Battlestars ever constructed. The two ships would be the anchor of the fleet that would head to The Colonies.

Kara had been in San Diego since the Roslin touched back down in Australia about forty-five days before. UED had scheduled her for some vacation time after the debrief. But this was a "working" vacation, and there was very little of the "vacation" part involved.

By reckoning on Earth, she had just turned fifty years old. She was only twenty-two years younger than both her adoptive parents. Reaching fifty had been a bit of a downer for her, but with Human Beings living longer, healthier lives, there was a good chance she could have another fifty in front of her.

Around 7:30 pm, there was a knock on her door. She looked at her watch, surprised at how late in the day it was, "Come in?"

Her father, former American President Justin Bond, peeked around the door with a smile, "Hey, Admiral, you need a break?"

A warm, broad smile lit up Starbuck's face, "Why, yes, as a matter of fact, Mr. President, I do!", she chuckled, "pull up that chair next to me." Even after all these years of first serving with him as his UED Liaison when he was President of The United States, and afterward when he and Judy Bond had adopted her, all the way to this moment, she was still in awe of the man.

Justin Bond grabbed the other chair and sat backward in it, with his arms on the back, and chin on his arms. The former American Commander-In-Chief was seventy-one years old, having been in the forefront of U.S and world politics for the last quarter century. He had been the steadying voice of the planet both when Galactica had arrived at Earth in 2022, and again in 2027 during the Earth-Cylon war.

In 2043, UED had offered him, and he had accepted, the post of Governor of the first United Earth Defense deep space mission. The first mission was to set sail in just under four months for The Twelve Colonies.

But he almost hadn't lived to see that day approaching.

Nine months earlier, he had been critically wounded in a terrorist attack spearheaded by Noel "Narcho" Allison and Diana "Hardball" Seelix in Sioux City, the Capital of the tiny nation of New Caprica, that sat in the middle of the American heartland. He had suffered a broken left arm in an explosion that had claimed the life of New Caprican President Brendan Costanza, and later that day had been shot in the right clavicle, just above his lung by Diana Seelix. The attack had cost the life of New Caprican President Brendan Costanza.

Even with modern medicine and advances in surgical methods, it had taken him three months to fully regain use of both his arms and was still undergoing some physical therapy. But there was no way in Heaven he wasn't going to The Colonies. Allison had been shot and killed by a Sioux City Police Officer on that day. As for Diana Seelix, she had been tried and convicted for her part in the plot. Her death sentence was currently on appeal before the New Caprican Supreme Court.