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planet. His sense of timing suggested he wait a fewmoments before sending out a recall order. He would
haveliked to bring up Apollo immediately, but that wasimpossible. However, he put.Tigh on alert,
reacting to the Colonel's report that a group of Ovions in the casino wereacting strangely.
Athena, who had been manning the scanners directedplanetside, reported an unusual number of aircraft
and a lot of ground movement on Carillon. The exceptional darkness of the planet made it difficult to
specify, she said, exactly what was going on. At least one aircraft appeared to have emerged from the
cloud cover now hanging over a large portion of the night hemisphere. The trajectory seemed toindicate
the rather large aircraft had emerged from the densecenter of the minefield.
"Is that possible?" she asked her father. "Yes, if-""Ifwhat?"
"Ifthey are in possession of information allowing them topass through the minefield with safety.""But such
a large ship."
"Were you able to get a good outline of it for scanning?""Afraid not. The darkness andthe cloud cover
and thegathering precipitation-"
"Yes, 1 see. Very good, Athena."
"You have a suspicion about the ship, don't you, Father?"Adama considered whether there was any
danger in telling her. The time seemed to have arrived to employAthena's strategic acumen.
"1 think it just might be a troop carrier." It took a moment for the information to sink in, then Athena
said, "CylonsT"Possibly."
She returned to her duty. On the scanner screens,movements which had seemed strange to her
previously now began to take on a military aspect.
A bridge officer turned away from a scanner console, and
reported.
"Picking up a large body of objects closing toward usrapidly. They seem to have come out of nowhere."
"From behind an ambush screen, no doubt," Adamamuttered.
"What was that. Sir?"
"Nothing. Scan the objects for life forms."
"Aye aye, Sir."Adama glanced away from the console, into hisdaughter's concerned eyes. Obviously she
had heard hismuttering.
Before her father had alerted her to danger, Athena had been wallowing in self-pity about being left
behind aboardtheGalactica. Her mind had been filled with pictures ofStarbuck chasing after that
socialator. She wished she hadnot reacted so rashly, throwing the key down like that. If she had had any
sense, she would have lured Starbuck to theguest quarters, used all her abilities to make him forget the
Gemonese woman. It did not seem to her that men developedpermanent relationships with socialators,
and that comfort-ed her for a while, until she recalled that Cassiopeia could notreally be considered a
socialator any more. She was an ex-socialator, able to use her considerable training within newsocial
systems.
Now, however, there was no room for jealousy. If hergrowing suspicions were correct, and what was
happening onthe planet below and space above was another Cylon secret assault, then there was no time
for petty emotions. Whydidn't her father order up the troops, instead of leaving themin the casino? The
odds were already against them, and thetime wasted in lifting the warriors off Carillon might make allthe
difference between defeat and victory. She was not used to her father being hesitant in his command role.
On the other hand, she had not been prepared for his resignation from the council, an act that seemed to
indicate emotionaldisturbance. Was it possible that her father was cracking up,that under that tough
surface pressure was building towardan explosion of madness? She shook her head, not wanting toeven
consider that.
Switching on the comline to Tigh, who had left his transponder open, she asked him for a report.
"The Ovions're collecting in droves," he said. "We mighthave to make a move very soon. If we can get
this stupidcrowd moving-"
"What do you mean?"
"They're buying every word Uri says. How can they? Listen, I'll turn up the transmitter, and you can
hear...."
Uri was speaking.
"... to use this occasion to invoke in each of us a rebirth. Awiping the slate clean of animosities and
prejudices againstany living brother, whether a former friend or foe...."
The cheer that went up almost deafened Athena. Theman's speech was effective, all right. How could
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