A Sunrise To Celebrate
ADULT CONTENT
Apollo/Starbuck
At long last, we have arrived! I still can't believe it. It's like I'm dreaming as I walk onto the bridge of the Galactica and see the blue white planet before us. If it is a dream, then I pray to the Lords, I never wake up! It's the end of our long journey and a new beginning for our people.
We still haven't made contact with the inhabitants of the planet before us, but we are in no doubt that this is Earth. Even from our vantage point above her, we can clearly see the three large pyramids on one of her continents. Their positions are an exact match to the pyramids of Eden, on Kobol. Even if we did not have such irrefutable evidence as that, the constant chatter from the planet has confirmed that they, at least, call their planet Earth. Even as I am troubled at their apparent lack of technology, I am intrigued by their transmissions. Television, I believe is the correct Earth word. They have imagined the varied technology that we had hoped to find here, yet they do not possess it. It is a strange puzzle, to be sure.
As I walk around the front of the bridge to get a better look at our new home, I notice that most of the bridge staff is distracted by the sight before them. I don't blame them, it distracts me. I pass by the communications area, the only area that does not appear distracted by the view, and watch as they intently monitor all transmissions that we are receiving from the planet below.
The Council has called a meeting for latter today and the bridge staff is urgently trying to collect and analyze all available information before that meeting.
I notice Omega's bemused smile, as I walk up the steps to the command station, his gaze almost possessive of the planet. I come up behind him, intent on startling the unusually obsessed bridge officer, but a hand lands on my shoulder, stopping me.
"I noticed you also took a good, long look on your way through the bridge," the deep voice of my father reverberates behind me.
I turn and smile at him "It's a sight to enjoy," I say as I turn back to gaze at it some more.
"Yes, it is." For a moment we both watch in silence as the planet turns before us "Well, Captain, what do you have to report?"
Dragging myself back from that vista, I turn my back on it, so I can concentrate on the task at hand. I am here to deliver my report of the system around us. "We ran scans of the six outer planets, and as we feared, they are not habitable. Mostly gaseous planets. The fifth planet, the colorful gas giant, has some possibility though."
"Really, how so?"
"According to my scans, it's more of an un-ignited sun then a planet. It even has its own system of planetoids that circle it."
"You think one of them could be colonized?"
"I don't know, it is possible, but it wouldn't be easy. The whole system is still too far away from this sun to actively support any planet life. We'd have to rely on other means."
"Well, we have had ample practice at that over the yahrens" he chuckled and I am amused to see the humorous sparkle in his eyes. It's been a long time since I've seen that. I watch my father gaze out the view window and I noticed that he stands taller and lighter, as if some weight had been lifted from his shoulders. I know it has. His promise to get the fleet to our new home, to Earth, has been fulfilled. I don't think I realized how much it has weighed on his shoulders until now.
"I actually prefer our original assessment to terraform the fourth planet." I say, bring his attention back from wherever his thoughts had taken it, "It's very much a twin of Earth, at sometime in its past it lost it atmosphere but sensors, show that most of her water is still intact, incased in ice below her surface."
"Yes, it would be relatively easy to reestablish the planet's atmosphere, but, it is also close enough to earth for that to be noticed, even by what we've seen of their technology. If we determine they are not sociologically advanced enough to handle a fleet of lost brothers, then we'll have to try somewhere else. At least until we can educate them, evolve their technology and awareness of the universe around them.
"From what I've seen of their television , I think they are quite aware of the universe around them, and then some!" I shake my head as I think back to some of the images I saw last night when Boomer and I commandeered a computer terminal in the back of the computer room.
We had watched enraptured, by the images we watched. After a bit, Boomer, finally managed to connect a Languatron to the terminal and we listen to the computers unemotional tones as we flipped through the signals we were receiving. We stopped on one, the story so eerily familiar to us, it was spooky.
"Yes, some of their ideas of space are rather interesting," he snorts at the thought.
"More than that, father, some of them are dead on!" I find it hard to explain my feelings " It's almost as if they've dreamed of the technology but never created it. Dreamed of worlds they've never seen, but ones we have. It doesn't make sense to me."
"Yes, well the human imagination is limitless. It is unfortunate, but you're right they have at least dreamed of it. It will be easier to increase their technological level."
We both stop to watch as our rotation around the planet brings us to the separator between night and day. The sight of the sun disappearing behind the planet holds the entire crew spellbound. I watch as the many lights of the human population below make the planet's dark side fairly glow. In the back of my mind a memory floats to the surface and I hear a long dead voice as clearly as if he were standing beside me. **It's my favorite sight, Apollo, it reminds me of diamonds on black velvet.**
Starbuck. 'How I wish you could be here to see this. You would have loved so many things of this new world. You'd have even enjoyed these television shows of theirs.' I feel a chill run though me. 'The show Boomer and I watched last night, was so like the one we used to watch back on Caprica. You loved watching that show as much as I loved watching you.'
I turn away from the sights before me, now no longer tinged with hope, but sadness and memories. 'I should be glad we had that brief time before you were taken away from me. That time was the happiest of my life, discovering the new depths to our friendship. I still remember the feel of your strong arms as they held me, the softness of you lips, as you loved me. I just wish I had told you how much you meant to me, how much I loved you. I tell myself that it's all right, you knew. You always knew things I didn't say. Surely you knew this?'
I barely take notice when Tigh comes up and talks to the Commander, then they both fade back into the background. I'm lost to the world around me as images of the past flash by at light speed. A hundred images of you; the way you looked standing near you viper, impatient to be off; you sitting in the ready room, cards held in one hand, as you wait to see who would call your bet; the hesitant yet, adoring look in your eyes as you first kissed me; you kneeling on my bed, the first time, erect with desire, your eyes requesting to make love to me . I know all the memories by heart. But with them also come all the regrets. All the words unsaid, all the things undone, all the chances not taken - they haunt me.
"Omega, get that signal piped up here!" My father's voice, overly loud behind me, is shaking with emotion. Something's wrong.
I snapped out of my memories of the past and focus on the here and now. "What's wrong?" I ask as I join my father at Omega's station.
"Apollo..." he starts but can't seem to finish. There are tears in his eyes and my apprehension doubles.
With an effort I take a calming breath and ask again. "What's wrong, father?"
He places a hand on my arm- it's shaking. "You're not going to believe this," he says.
I'm about to ask what he thinks I won't believe when I heart it, that voice, coming over the command stations speakers, and I freeze. My heart stops. I can't breath. It can't be. That voice. That voice, that had just a few moments before, been speaking in my head. That voice that I thought was gone from me forever. Starbuck.
"I repeat! Galactica come in! This is Lieutenant Starbuck. Come on, you guys, you must remember me!" came the plaintive voice. Even full of static as it was I knew it, recognized it, but couldn't believe it. I can't answer. I can't even breathe. Starbuck! Oh, God, Starbuck!
"We read you, please give the confirmation code," Omega's voice seems to come from somewhere far away, a part of my mind, unaffected by my shock, wonders how Omega can be so calm. 'Starbuck, can it really be you?'
"At last!" the voice cries out in obvious joy. "I was beginning to think you guys did remember me and were trying to sneak on by." I could hear the strong emotions hidden behind the light words. Starbuck, dear Lord!
"Please state the confirmation code," Omega steadily requests again, rigidly refusing to show any emotions, while I'm afraid I'll burst wide open with them.
"You were always a stickler for protocol, Omega." the voice quips. "Okay - Confirmation Code: Blue 2, Mark 7, ID487791, Mark 1. Lieutenant Starbuck, Blue Squadron, Battlestar G2A, Galactica."
Suddenly, Omega's station is brought back into sharp focus and I stare fixedly at his terminal screen as the ID code is recalled from the computer - Starbuck's Identity Confirmation Code. Time seems to stop as I try to get my mind functioning, try to compare the numbers, then I realize what I already knew. It's a match. There is no doubt. Starbuck's alive!
I can barely contain myself as I fidget in my seat. I can see the valley growing ever closer and I ache to get up and stand behind the pilots, watching as the previously hidden base comes into view.
A stern look from my father, sitting across from me, stops me, but not my fidgeting. I still can't believe it. Starbuck alive was one miracle, this military base he's somehow apart of, unbelievable. I know his story will be a good one to hear but right now I don't care. All I care about is holding him in my arms again.
I look around the crowed shuttle, packed with council members and military personnel and I begin to wonder when I'll get the chance. As much as I can't contain my excitement I can control myself enough to do my duty. I can't abandon all of my training, but, I will see him, he will be there and I will find a way of getting him to myself - alone.
I watch as the shuttle settles to the valley floor, barely able to contain my apprehension, my excitement, my utter joy at knowing they're finally here! Vipers fly overhead, in screaming welcome, but I ignored them. All my attention is focus on that stubby gray shuttle. I have to take several slow deep breaths to calm myself. I've waited so long for this day, years. No not years anymore, yahrens!
I impatiently watch as the shuttle ramp descends, agonizingly slowly down to settle on the tarmac. Then the inner door backs inward and up. My heart is in my throat as I watch the first person come through that doorway.
The world stops around me as if time has stopped itself. I hear no sounds and see no sights beyond the image on that ramp. Apollo. My Apollo! I am again gripped with that unbelievable painful delight that I had first felt when I heard his voice over the speakers. He's alive. He made it.
I had prayed every night that when they finally arrived, Apollo would be among them. My nightmares have been full of reunions where he had not survived. I wake up in tears, unable to bear the thought that I might never see him again. I have so much to tell him.
My adventures seem so unimportant compared to the things they have brought to light. I knew the moment I had appeared above this planet; knowing there was no way back and I might never see my friends again, never see Apollo again. I knew then, what had been taken from me, the relationship I had taken for granted. And, what I prayed I had not completely lost - Apollo.
I must have done my part right these past years, for the Gods have granted me my wish. The Galactica has made it and Apollo is with them - alive.
He stands on the ramp, unmoving, watching me. I want to run over to him yet I'm frozen to the spot, unable to move. A hand comes down on my shoulder, "Aren't you going to go over and greet them?" The voice of the base commander startles me, breaking me free of my immobility.
"Yes," is all I can say as I start out over the tarmac, heading for group that has disembarked from the shuttle, heading home.
How we managed to get through those first few hours I don't know. I remember going through the motions of introductions and meetings but all I could concentrate on was Starbuck.
We've finally managed to escape the throng of delegates and responsibilities and now at last we're alone in Starbuck's house. It's a small house situated atop a hill over looking the valley.
The sun has set a long time ago, and I find myself looking out over the darkened landscape. The lights from the city below twinkle brightly back at me as if in welcome.
"It's my favorite sight, Apollo, it reminds me of diamonds on black velvet." I abruptly turn to him, the familiar phrase hitting me like a laser blast. The emotional storm it releases in me takes my by surprise and I silently reach for him. Then I'm in his arms, tears streaming down my face, unable to speak.
"Apollo, I..." he starts but hesitates as if unsure what to say.
I look up at him, his face so close to mine, but my sight blurs and I fasten onto his mouth, unable to express myself in any other way. I need to let him know how much I have grieved for him, longed for him and love him. "Love me," I plead as I cling to him. He's shaking too, I notice. With longing or desire I don't know. I just know I need him, to feel him in me, to know he loves me.
"Always" he replies as he runs a finger across my check, wiping away my tears.
Our bodies are not new to each other yet, it's like I've never seen him before. His skin has been sun darkened and I run my hands along his back, then down across the prominent tan line. His skin is warm, not the everlasting chill I'm used to on board ship, but sun warmed. I lean down and kiss his hip, he tastes of sun too, I decide.
He lies back on to the bed pulling me along with him and I revel in the feel of his skin sliding across mind as I lay on top of him. He fastens his mouth to the base of my neck and sucks gently and I shiver at the tingling sensations he's causing. The sensations are overpowering and I moan loudly. I know it will leave a mark, something we had always avoided in the past, and I feel a thrill at the though of him marking me, making me his own. The sensation of his mouth on the base of my neck is too much; I know I'll lose it if I don't stop him. " Starbuck" I gasp between moans of pleasure, "please."
He knows what I'm asking and breaks the suction. He starts to nibble at the other side of my neck and I gasp in need. I feel the heat rising in me, I'll not last another session of this sweet torture. I pull back capturing that delightful mouth with mine. I invite his tongue in and caress it with mine as I gently suck and stroke it. He moans deeply into my mouth as he runs his hands down my back, caressing the base of my spine. Then he begins massaging lower as he pulls me tighter against him, his erection nudging against mine.
He begins to thrust upward against me, rubbing his length along mine. The sensation, the longing, my need for him is too much and I feel myself shudder as my release takes me. I sob out his name as I cling to him, shaking. He holds me against him thrusting back in desperate urgency and I soon feel him erupting below me. His whole body convulsing as he howls with release, calling my name.
I lay there on top of him spent as I calm down. I kiss his neck, licking it lightly and considering leaving a mark of my own.
"I'm sorry, Apollo." he says when he gets his breath back.
"For what?" I ask, confused. I roll off of him and snuggle up along his side, my head on his shoulder. How I've missed this.
"I wanted to make love you, in you. I just...."
"You will," I assure him. "Don't be sorry, it was wonderful." I run my fingers through the hairs on his chest and kiss his shoulder.
"Yes, it was. I knew you couldn't resist me," he says in his smuggest voice. I've missed that too. I smile as I lay against him enjoying the lethargy that comes over me in waves of delightful bliss and fall asleep safe in his arms.
A cool breeze from the open patio door plays at the edges of my towel, flipping the corners up. I close my eyes enjoying the coolness of the breeze as it caresses my face and blows lightly under the towel.
When we had arrived in orbit above Earth I had expected to find many things; hope, a place to live, simple fresh un-circulated air. What I didn't expect to find was peace. A peace of mind and body that I'd not felt since I was a child. The playful breeze continues its caress and I inhale deeply. Real air. It has been so long since I last stood in the breeze on my long departed home world - Caprica. This breeze holds no hint of ocean spray or sea salt, but I adore it all the same.
I remember my last view of Caprica with aching clarity. It had been just after the massacre, the destruction of our worlds. I remember watching Caprica's suns, Romulus and Remus, set behind a defiled sea - its waters poisoned, its shores hidden behind the smoldering remains of death.
I used to love to the watch the sun set. I loved the colors that streaked across the clouds magically changing hues until at last there was only a faint dim glow beyond the horizon; I used to love those moments of twilight. Not anymore.
Now, I dreaded it, hated it, and all the memories associated with it. I've seen several sunsets in our long journey across the cosmos. All on strange, alien worlds, and each time the magic was replaced by such anxiety, such despair, it was unbearable. I hate sunsets. I've waited, what seems a lifetime, to replace those memories - with a sunrise. A sunrise on a new home - on Earth.
The cool breeze begins to blow with more force, almost as if it were objecting to my bleak thoughts. It blow its cold breath forcefully under my towel and I gasp at its coldness as it seems to caress me.
"Beautiful," comes a voice from behind me.
I turn and find Starbuck a few feet away, leaning against the wall. His arms crossed over his sun-bronzed skin, so much darker than I remembered, his once dark blond hair fairly glowing with the sun that had lightened it. He's wearing a satisfied, loving smile and nothing else.
I smiled back at him, at peace for the first time in so long. True, satisfied peace.
The pleasant feelings of the cool breeze begins to evaporated as a rush of passionate heat floods through me at the sight of him. I gestured with a nod of my head in the direction of the glass wall. "It is a beautiful view you have here, Starbuck, very exceptional," I agreed.
"I wasn't talking about the view" His voice caresses me. "It's not even morning yet, come back to bed" he whispers.
"In a minute" I promise, "I want to see the sunrise."
Understanding dawns in his eyes. "I'd almost forgotten your dream."
"It's not a dream anymore," I say and hold out a hand to him silently asking him join me.
Immediately he comes forward and grasps my hand, bringing it to his lips where he lightly kisses the tips of each finger. I smiled and turned around as he wraps himself around me, pulling me back against him as we both looked out at the lightening sky.
"My dream has already come true." Starbuck whispered in my ear as he nuzzles the back of my neck placing hungry little kisses there.
"Mine too," I reply. "I just need this, to put the past behind me. So we can go forward with our new lives here."
"So you will stay with me?" Starbuck asks me, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"There has been nowhere else for me ever since you captured my heart so many yahrens ago." I lift up one of Starbuck's arms and wrapped it across my shoulders then lay my head upon it, lightly caressed it with my lips. "I love you Starbuck, I always will."
"You better," he replies as he gently tugs at me with the arm around my shoulders. "I don't fall in love every day you know" he chided. "You're stuck with me until, forever."
"Forever sounds like a good start." I turn my head toward him, a silent request, making it easier for him to reach my lips. I'm not disappointed. I could grow drunk on Starbuck's kisses I realize as I give myself up completely to the pleasures Starbuck is flooding me with. I turn around in his arms giving him better access to my lips and hold onto him as if am downing, drowning in the emotions he's sparked in me, so intense they're painful. I love him so much. I feel as if my chest will burst with it, consuming me in my fiery need, and I eagerly await it.
"You'll miss your sunrise," Starbuck says, finally breaking free.
"I could, for you," I reply, and mean it. I'd willingly give up my dreams for him.
"I know, but I won't let you." Gently but firmly Starbuck turns me around and again wraps his arms around me, keeping me safe, as we watch the sun peak over the top of the distant mountains. It is a sunrise to celebrate.
The End