Part 2: Battlestar Galactica, Dawn: Collision

Chapter1

I

As was often the case, Justin Bond was in a contemplative mood. The American President, always a person with a lot on his mind as well as on his schedule, was busier than most of his predecessors could ever dream of. He wasn't upset by that: to the contrary. He loved it. But it would take a toll later in life, and he knew it. All he had to do is look at photographs and old footage of his predecessors who had come into office with brown or black, or even blonde hair, and left with nothing but gray on top of their noggins. But it was a price he was willing to pay because he had wanted to do so many things to move his nation forward. Now, he had been thrust into a leadership role unlike any of his predecessors could have envisaged.

He had come to office in 2021, promising national renewal and massive changes to America's democratic institutions, and he had delivered, doing so with breathtaking speed. He had convinced his Congress and enough states to swiftly pass Constitutional Amendments to ban all private money for Federal Elections, making them publicly funded; installing term limits for The House and Senate, changed the terms of House members from two-year terms to no more than three four-year terms. The Senate and the Presidency were now limited to two six-year terms; banning lobbyists from giving money or gifts to an elected representative or candidate on the Federal Level. And the changes had meant that next year he would be up for re-election.

He was clearly the favorite. His approval rating among Americans was around 79%. He was wildly popular all over Earth, maybe nowhere more popular than in the tiny nation of New Caprica that sat within the middle of The United States. The election wasn't on his mind this day. It was the last thing on his mind. He was a politician, so it had its place in his daily life, but not today.

While the peoples of the Earth loved him, there was still some lingering resentment among Earth's leaders towards him. He had been the one that was volunteered by other world leaders to take the first step in beginning a dialogue with William Adama and Laura Roslin. He had, as the saying went, nailed it. He had impressed the people of the planet, and Adama and Roslin. Yet even though his fellow world leaders had promoted him for the assignment, they were jealous of the approbation that he was receiving. Ego drove most people in leadership and he was no exception but compared to most politicians, he had very little of that personality trait. He just wanted to do his job.

He had used his newfound political posture to drive through something that he had felt stronger about than almost anything else in his lifetime: giving the Colonists the opportunity to live as an independent nation, with full United Nations membership. The blood that had been spilled in numbers that he could barely grasp demanded nothing less.

The fight to establish a nation for the Colonial survivors had been bruising. National pride was at stake for many leaders, who wanted the tiny nation to be located within the confines of their land. From the beginning of the debate on this issue, President Bond had said the decision was solely and completely up to the Colonists. They would decide if they wanted their own nation. Other nations were competing to have the refugees from the Holocaust close to them. Justin Bond had not put the United States in that bidding war. He had refused. He wanted to Colonists to decide their fate, not him.

And, yet, in the end, New Caprica ended up in a part of Western Iowa. It wasn't thanks to him. The people of Iowa had started a petition, which received enough signatures to put on the state ballot, asking for a referendum that would give the Colonists 150,000 acres of land in the Northwestern corner of the state, if they wanted to start their own nation. Any Iowans who stayed there would keep their American Passports under a special agreement and would be granted dual citizenship if the referendum was passed.

It passed with 76% of the votes cast.

New Caprica was established in October of 2024, and in early 2025 was offered a permanent seat in The United Nations. Its population made up of Colonials and Earthlings was approximately 135,000 citizens.