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Entrepreneurship	By : Maevenly Category: 1 through F > Battlestar Galactica Views: 4016 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Battlestar Galactica, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Entrepreneurship
- 1
Entrepreneurship

Deep in a previously
un-charted area of space, on board the Battlestar Galactica�

The
scrape of his privacy curtain being pulled to the side was enough to make him
want to cover his eyes. The hand attached to the body that opened his curtain
was, he had to admit, worthy of being looked at. Even at the ungodly hour of
zero-five-forty-five as his sleep deprived mind competed with his physically
depraved body. Rolling up to a sitting position and dragging his still-warm
pillow from behind his head to his lap to hide the tenting currently occurring,
he squinted at the un-natural perkiness he was being assaulted with.

�Starbuck
� do you realize that my C.A.P. ended,� peering at the clock clipped to the
underside of his bunk, it was a fight to make the glowing digits come into
focus, �at twenty-three hundred hours. That translates to��

��
One whiney ass C.A.G. Damn Apollo. I thought you were supposed to up with the
sun?� A deprecating smirk followed the verbal dig at his call sign. Stepping
away from the bunk and crossing the room to the banks of lockers, a practiced
open-hand smack to just the right place had one of the locker doors swinging
open. Reaching inside and pulling out a pair of socks, she grimaced at the fact
that not only were the socks matched, but rolled together to keep them together
and prevent them from wrinkling.

One
fluid motion had the ball sailing across the room.

�You
know, this would be scary unless I already knew you folded your underwear.�

Deftly
plucking the ball of socks out of the air, he peeled them apart and draped them
across his mattress. Reaching for his running shoes and pulling the knots free,
he brushed off his feet before putting on his socks and shoes.

�Oh
yeah, Starbuck?�

�Settling his heels into his running shoes, Lee
traded steps for lunges in an attempt to wrench the need for more sleep from
his muscles. Stopping just in front of the woman who encompassed his best
friend and primary nemesis, he deliberately crossed into her personal space and
brushed her body. The reactionary hitch in her breathing and faint hint of
sexual twinkle in her eyes was payback enough for the mental image she conjured
of her handling his underwear.

Matching
her smirk for smirk, he reached past her for a clean set of tanks. �Never
pictured you as a panty sniffer, Thrace.�

�Nah
� that�s kids� stuff, completely minor league. �Playing for the Majors� means
that if you can get close enough to sniff someone else�s panties, then you
might as well go for the gold and put them on.� Stepping back so that he had
enough arm room to put on his tanks, she waited until his elbows were back by
his side before she rested a hand on his shoulder as she went to move past him.

Whispering
lasciviously, her voice was pure innuendo.

��Going
Pro� means that not only did you get to his panties, but you put them on, wore
them, and then put them back in his locker � without him knowing you got into his locker in the first place.�

It
took all the discipline he learned at War College not to turn
to his stack of clean skivvies and start rifling through them, searching for
that scent that was undeniably Kara. It took several repetitions of conjuring
Col. Tigh and Chief Tyrol � dancing in-time, in full costume, to an Aerilon jig
� to keep his shorts from re-tenting.

Following
her through the hatch and into the hallway, they both took positions against
the wall of the corridor. Extending their arms, each of them fell forward until
their palms rested against the cold metal. Keeping the mental image of Tigh and
Tyrol firmly
forefront, Lee set the pace for their up-right push ups. Keeping Starbuck
focused on matching her breathing with her exertion level would keep him from
having to picture Hot Dog naked to keep his traitorous body under control. The
side effect was bonus � a hard workout was like pre-foreplay for Starbuck. As
well as the fact that her tanks would be clinging to her body before they
finished their first lap around the Galactica. And that was most certainly
valid payback for having to picture the XO dancing.

This
was the fifth time Kara had taken him on a different route around the
Battlestar in the past two weeks. This time, they started out by jogging past by
Life Station. Getting a cheery wave from the staff � female staff specifically
� as shifts changed, he rounded the next corner and took her up on her
challenge of taking the stairs up to the next deck and pounding out the
corridors of the next deck. Endorphins were kicking in and the image of leaving
Kara behind as he smoked her up the stairs was enough make him pump his legs a
little harder, pull his elbows in a little tighter and take deeper breaths
through his nose only to whistle the spent air over his teeth.

Coming
off the stairs, the jangling of I.D. tags told him Kara was just behind and to
the right of him. The straightaway was coming up � as well as the service
entrances for a lot of the day-to-day operations on the ship. The galley access
ways, housekeeping headquarters and the fabrication department were a blur.
Every now and then, he would hear Starbuck call out, �Make a hole! Coming
through! MOVE,� as they made their way around the ship.

Right
around their fourth-out-of-five lap around the ship, as Kara�s admonishments
for people to get out of their way increased in frequency, he started to wonder
why Kara had chosen one of the busiest times of the work cycle � when the
graveyard shift gave way to the first shift � for their run. Not to mention the
prickly feeling crawling between his shoulder blades that usually meant he was being
watched. Gauging by the way his skin was itching, he was convinced that he was
on display and being scrutinized from every angle. Every time he and Kara
slowed down to take a corner or were forced to pause because someone did not
�make a hole�, the more he noticed more and more female eyes appraising him,
raking him over and �sizing� him up. And he knew that they were not wondering
about his neck-size so that they could make him a new shirt.

Coming
up on the gymnasium, he heard Kara call out jovially, �Hey Lee, feel like a
little one-on-one?�

Blowing
out a breath as his foot came down, he felt two flashes of concern. One for
her, �You sure your knee can take it? Those stairs were a little brutal.�

�Awe
� is wittle Wee Adama afraid that da� big, bad Starbuck is gonna mop da�
Pyramid court wid� his little girly-ass?� Kara cooed as if she were speaking to
a baby despite her very grown up, patronizing tone of voice and choice of
words.

Second
flash of concern was for him. She was up to something and somehow he figured
into her plan � whatever it was � again.

�Well,
since you ask so nicely, you make it
so easy for a guy to say no.�

Stopping
in front of the hatch that led to the gym, the next thing he knew he was following
his friend into the training facility. Shaking his run out of his arms, he
pulled his feet together and bent at the waist, reaching for his ankles.
Counting to ten and slowly rolling up, he rotated his neck to the left and
glanced over at his running partner. Liking what he saw, he stayed where he was
as he stretched out his neck several more times. Kara had the inside of one
elbow near her ear and was bracing it in place with her other hand. Switching
elbows, the smooth lines of her collar bones, arms and the upper slope of each
breast stood out sharply against her sweaty tanks.

Somewhere
the sound of energetic music came to an end just as he was pulling his upper
arm across his chest as he stretched each of his triceps in turn. On the
Pyramid court, a group of women were picking up their sweat towels off the
floor and congratulating each other on completing a strenuous aerobic routine.
He could not hear what they were saying, but just like any other male in the
known universe, the sight of a giggly group of girls is enough to put even the
most stalwart of warriors on high alert. Especially when one of the women
noticed he was there, poked her friend, pointed in his direction and started a
chain reaction that soon left no doubt in his mind what they were talking
about. Again � he would bet his last cubit it was not shirt construction.
ESPECAILLY when the same group went suddenly silent with stifled snickers as
they filed past him only to erupt in furious chuckles once they were in the
corridor.

�Well
then, I guess I will spare you the embarrassment of having to share with
everyone you encounter today how you were beaten by the amazing, incredible,
fantastic, talented Starbuck,� Kara blithely offered, referring to her
challenging him to a game.

�I�ll
tell you what, Little Miss Owner of a Self Inflatable Ego; meet me here after
your shift. After you PLEAD with me to make a quick end to your humiliating
annihilation on the court, you can tell me what a magnanimous, charismatic,
devastatingly good looking, incredible leader and human being I am while you
swab the launch tubes until they sparkle with that just-from-the-assembly-line
shine.�

Stepping
into his personal space, her eyes locked with his. He could feel the air become
static as both of them tried to stare down the other to see which one of them
was bluffing. Schooling his face to remain as impassive as possible, Lee was
not giving in. She was definitely up to something and he wanted to know what it
was. Upping the ante by quirking his eyebrow, Kara answered him by cocking her
head slightly to the side � without breaking eye contact � and stepping just
that much closer so that her still slightly laboured breathing puffed against
his cheek.

�Nah.
I don�t think so.�

Rocking
back on her heels, she gave him a saucy wink and a clicked her tongue against
the inside of her teeth.

�I
think I like the idea of you spending all day wondering what I know that you
don�t.� �

Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx

The
looks never stopped. All day, every time he passed a female member of the crew,
one of three things would happen. One: all talking would cease immediately and
some inane babble about some arcane regulation would come spewing out of said
female�s mouth. Or, two: if he had to stop to talk to another male crew member,
whatever females were around would congregate together and not-so-subtly point
at where he was standing and compare who his was with to himself. The best
example was when, sometime after lunch, he had approached Helo with a
modification as it pertained to the raptor aspect of the C.A.P. schedule. Lee
could have sworn that when he first flagged Karl down, there were only a couple
of women near by. By the time they parted, he counted eight women huddled
together, their attentions divided between taller Raptor pilot and himself. He
had better odds evading a Cylon raiding party then getting past those staff
members without being emasculated.

The
oddest thing that happened was when he asked a female member of the crew how their
day was going and he got a rather cryptic, �Fine, thanks to you,� in response.

At
first he thought he had simply misheard them. But after the fourth woman
repeated the same words, he knew that he did not need to back track to Life
Station so that Doc Cottle could give him a hearing test.

Beating
a trail down the corridor and being forced to take the longest route possible
to backtrack to C.I.C., Captain Adama was going to have a few choice words with
Lt. Thrace.

BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG

�Attention
all hands. Pass the word to Lt Thrace to report
to the C.A.G.�s office immediately. Attention all hands. Pass the word to Lt Thrace to report
to the C.A.G.�s office immediately.�

Talking
to the coolant system of her Viper as she lay flat on her back on a moveable repair
board, Starbuck was not about to get up any time soon. �Yeah, yeah, yeah � just
because I hear yeah doesn�t mean I am gonna go see yeah.�

A
deep voice attached to a sizeable pair of boots took materialized at the foot
of her backboard.

�Hey
Thrace � looks
like someone getting� called to the principal�s office. Guess Apollo figured
out that you really do cheat at Triad.�

�Frak
off, Helo. At least when I need to count to eleven, I don�t need to open my
pants. But then again � you are only what? � the second generation in your
family to walk upright?� Kara asked pointedly.

Of
course, if she were looking at him, her jibe would be ten times more effective.
As it was, isolated chuckles reverberated across the hanger deck. And that was
with only her bent knees and feet poking out from underneath her Viper.

�You
know, you could put those paws of yours to good use, Helo and actually
accomplish something more than self-gratification in an eight hour period. You
know � when you are supposed to be on duty? �

Seeing
a shard of shrapnel imbedded in the soft tubing of a line that went somewhere,
whatever Karl said as a retort was lost as she reached up higher into the inner
workings of the Viper. Completely focused on tracking, pulling out and
replacing the damaged line, the sounds of first shift changing to mid-shift
escaped her.

Releasing
a valve she spent more than a centon custom creating in order to make sure that
if that particular line got damaged while she was in the air it would not
result in her being spread out across parsecs of space on the molecular level,
a heavy boot clamping down on the base of her back board and forcibly dragging
her out from underneath her Viper rated a eight-point-five on the �Boy-Is-Starbuck�s-Pissed-Metre�.

�By
the Gods, Helo � you must really not care about keeping your �boys� attached to
your body,� she snarled as her board came to a stop.

Jumping
up and off of the rolling repair board, her hands were on her hips and a nasty
gleam was in her eye before she knew who she was addressing.

�What
the hell were you thinking? Do you realize that I could have -?�

�Lt.
Thrace � where
have you been?� His tone was clipped and precise.

Each
question was fired at the same time at point blank range.�

Seeing
Lee in front of her, a shifting of her hips changed her from Starbuck to Kara. Lee
however was still in Captain Adama mode.

�I
asked you a question, Lieutenant.� The C.A.G.�s voice was low and commanding.

Rolling
her eyes to the catwalks high above them, she brought her gaze back to a pair
of defrosting blue eyes and a thawing expression, �Captain. I chose not to answer your page because I know you were
not summoning me to a briefing that had anything to do with the military
deployment of this fleet or the flight status of any of my pilots.�

Crossing
his arms across his chest and locking his hands tightly against his body so
that he would not throttle his best friend and resident gad-fly, Lee stood in
the same place Captain Adama just vacated. But only for a moment.

Looking
over his shoulder, at the MP that stood watch at the back end of the hanger
bay, he called out, �Officer, will you come here a moment?�

Distracted
by Cally coming up and whispering a question in her ear after giving a
glowering Lee a furtive look, the young Specialist was gone as quickly as she
came � with Kara�s assurance firmly entrenched in her mind. It was not until
Lee�s gaze resettled on her and took in the sight of a MP taking up a flanking
position off of his right hand that Kara knew she was not dealing with Lee any
more. It was Captain Adama and a very pissed off Captain Adama at that.

�Corporal,
you will escort Lt. Thrace to the
brig.� Captain Adama firmly stated.

Throwing
the officer a menacing glare that usually melts the metal siding on Cylon Raiders,
the MP stopped just short of taking her arm. He knew better. Hell, he had been
on duty the day these two officers standing in front of him slugged each other.
As it was, he was scheduled to have the next thirty-six hours off duty � he did
not want to spend that time in Life Station because he was foolish enough to
lay a hand on Starbuck. Too many others had been there for him to become
another statistic. Hell � he heard that Doc Cottle actually had a t-shirt
modified from the museum gift shop that read, �I Saw Stars with Starbuck� that
he gave out the ice packs and sutures associated with tangling with Lt. Kara
�Starbuck� Thrace.

Instead
he settled for a neutral toned, �Sir, if you will come with me?�

Looking
at Captain Adama, in all his C.A.G. splendour, she gave Lee an appraising once
over. �You know what Captain? You really are a beautiful man and you are making
a lot of women happy just by you being you.�

Turning
to the MP, she was all Kara when she all but purred, �I�m ready whenever you
are, my friend.�

Captain
Adama was impassive and Lee was dumbstruck. Kara � not Starbuck � was going to
the hack and she seemed to be looking forward to it. What the frak!

Turning
on the soles of his well shined shoes, he followed the unlikely pair as they
made their way amiably out of the hanger bay with his eyes. He watched as she
gave the MP a charming smile, a pat on the arm and asked the MP a question he
was too far away to hear.

Twisting
body so that she was almost fully facing him, she called out over the
day-to-day racket in the hanger bay, �See you soon, Lee.�

With
that remark, she and her escort swept their way out of the bay.

FRAK!!
She was right. He still did not know what she was up too.

Xxx�� BSG�� X xx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx

For
two more hours he endured the stares, giggles and 'thank yous� from assorted members of the female population on the
ship. But this time, especially when he sat down to dinner in the mess hall
with other shipmates, he knew that this time he was not alone. In various
degrees, Chief Tyrol, Helo, Hot Dog and even Gaeta were
receiving the same treatment.

Pushing
his tray away, his mind was too busy turning over the different schemes
Starbuck could have concocted that would involve him to the extent that he was
obviously embroiled in to try to fool himself into believing that the goop jiggling
in front of him was actually tasty.

Sensing
something was eating at the C.A.G. � other than the goop adhering to and
drilling a hole in the captain�s stomach lining � Tyrol poured a
cup of coffee, passed it to Lee and asked, �Something on your mind, Sir?�

Taking
a deep draw on the hot beverage, Lee knew he had to be two steps behind Kara if
he needed a sounding board to figure out what she was up to.

�Chief
� have you noticed anything� well� odd
about certain crew members lately?�

Dropping
his napkin over the offending items on his tray, Tyrol leaned
back in his chair and draped one ankle across his knee. Crossing his arms, Lee
could see the Chief remembering his day.

�You
know, Captain. Now that you mention it, I was passing by the Sergeant-At-Arms
office yesterday � after coming from filing a requisition with the
quartermaster � and I did hear something kinda odd.�

Thinking
of his few exchanges with that rather severe officer, Lee looked expectantly at
Tyrol to finish
is story.

�She
was� whistling Sir; a rather jaunty, upbeat tune at that,� Tyrol suppressed
a shudder. �I gotta tell ya, Sir. I never thought about what would put a smile
on that woman�s face.�

�Chief
� how is your still doing these days?�

BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx

Carrying
a tray of food in one hand and a container of the Chief�s Special Brew under
his arm, he entered the hack. Kara � not Starbuck � was still in her cell and
she was the only guest in the cell block. He watched as she leisurely put down
her book of Geminon poetry and rose to her feet. Thumping the jug of home-brew
on the desk, Lee was glad to see that Johnson was the MP on duty in the brig. A
brief moment was all that was needed to convey that the bottle was for the MP.
Without a word being said, the officer rose and went to Kara�s cell. The clank
of a key releasing the locking mechanism preceded the whine of a rusty door
swinging open. Stepping over the threshold he set the tray down on the small,
built in shelf near the head, he did not bother craning his neck when he heard
the sound of the door falling back in place.�
�

�Hey
Johnson, can you give us a moment?�

�Corporal
� you are dismissed for the next centon.�

Lee�s
order and Kara�s request were again fired at the same time. All too glad not to
have his name appear on the witness list when Starbuck was court-marshalled for
murdering Apollo, Corporal Johnson touched his cap to Kara, saluted smartly to
Lee, turned on his heel and nearly ran out of the room, pausing just long
enough to scoop up the bottle Lee had brought with him.

�Lee.�

�Kara�

Again
� they both spoke at the same time.

�Go
ahead.�

�Go
ahead.�

This
time, they both broke into snickers as they both spoke at the same time for the
fourth time that day.

Lee
sat himself down on the only chair in the cell; Kara sat down on the cot and tucked
her ankles underneath her knees.

�Kara
� you know better than to ignore an official summons issued over the wireless.�
Lee began.

�Lee
� Lt. Thrace knew that
what you wanted to talk to her about had nothing to do with her duty as an
officer.� Kara countered.

Catching
onto her game of verbal semantics, Lee changed his tactics. �Okay � Starbuck knows better than to disobey
her C.A.G.�

�Sorry
� wrong again. Starbuck has nothing
to do with what has been eating at you all day,� Kara defended herself and her
decision to ignore his summons.

Laughing
in self deprecation, Lee finally caught on.

All
day, he had been dealing with Kara, the woman and did not know it. The female
side of the best damn pilot in the fleet and the gender behind the best flight
instructor and stand-in C.A.G. he had ever seen. Kara, Starbuck and Lt. Thrace were each
individuals as much as they were intrinsically linked to one another. They all
were facets, personas that he himself could appreciate as he carried the same
�disorder�. �Lee, Captain Adama and
Apollo were unique individuals as well � he just did not delineate between the
three as much as the woman sitting in front of him did.

Keeping
an easy smile on his face, he leaned forward and braced his elbows on his
thighs. �Kara � I am going to count to five. That is as long as you get to tell
me that what I found out a half a centon a go is just some rumour and not what
you and your little cronies have been up too for the past week.�

�One.�

�Lee,
I have no idea what you are talking about. Nice touch though, sending Johnson
out of the room.�

�Two.�

�Cronies?
Who says I have cronies? And since when do I need anyone�s help to pull off a
successful campaign?�

�Three.�

Levelling
a gaze at Kara, Lee smoothly replied, �You would need help if you were going to
involve everyone on the entire ship.�

Unfazed
by her protesting her innocence, Lee straightened up, kicked out his legs so
that they rested on the frame of her cot and threaded his fingers together
behind his head. Then he let his expression become dark and stormy.

She
was not fooled by his laid back pose because that was all it was, a pose. Every
muscle from his jaw to his legs was primed for action.� Back-peddling a bit, Kara knew the odds were
fifty-fifty as to whether or not Lee was bluffing. His face though, was not
giving anything away other than the fact that he was more than a little pissed.

�Listen
Lee � it�s harmless. No one is getting hurt and you gotta admit, moral has
never been higher.�

Trying
to sound as blas� as possible, Kara figured she could try pull the burning fuse
that was attached to Lee�s temper.

�Four.�
He nearly snarled out the word.

The
Chiefs Special Brew bought a lot of favours for those who could lay their hands
on it. Lee�s counter-point to what came out of Tyrol�s still was a quiet
conversation in a very quiet section of the ship, well seasoned with Adama
charm, with a blushing ensign who he had heard through the grapevine had a bit
of a crush on him. If what she said was right, Kara was going down. This was by
and far the worst thing she had done in recent memory. Using the excuse for
what she did as benefiting the �greater good�, was only digging her into deeper
trouble.

�Tick-tock,
Kara.�

�I
have no idea why you are so mad, Lee. If I were you, I would be flattered. I
mean it. If you pulled that stick out of your ass for just half a moment ��
Kara waved her one of her hands in his direction as she scooted off the bed and
moved closer to the far wall of her cell. As merely a precaution of course, is
what she told herself.

Lee
was up, on her and had her trapped between his body and the wall before she saw
his feet hit the floor.

�Kara!
There are women on this ship � enjoying a bit of private time in their bunks,
in the shower, Gods know where � with V I B R A T O R S �in their hands - named for call signs and job
titles of several men on this ship � which you and your cronies built with your
own two hands!�

Lee
all but roared those words while at the same time, he prayed that he was wrong
and that he was getting all ruffled over a ridiculous rumour started by someone
who saw Kara as a competitor for his affections.

Stifling
the nervous feeling fluttering somewhere around her stomach, Kara deftly arched
an eyebrow and looked at spot on the wall somewhere beyond Lee�s left shoulder.

Looking
impressed, she said almost absently, �Good for Cally for fine tuning the
waterproof model.�

Lee�s
eyes glittered dangerously. Her name was like a rumble of thunder coming from
somewhere deep within his chest, �Kar-ra.�

�What?
Hey � this was not my idea. HONEST!�

Her
green eyes were wide as the truth shone from their depths.

�A
group of us were sitting down on night, talking about the male-to-female ratio
on the ship and the lack of �quality rack time�. One thing led to another and
before too long, Cally, Racetrack and I had come up with a plan.�

�Just
the three of you?�

The
good thing about being this close to Kara was that� well, there were a lot of
good things but primarily it meant that her ability to deflect his line of
thought was diminished.

�And
you all reached out to the entire female population on this ship all by
yourselves?�

�Construction,
marketing and distribution, yep � just the three of us.�

Deciding
that Lee had the upper hand long enough, she dropped her voice and huskily
clarified, �Advertising was never a problem.�

Lee
had a sinking feeling as to what she was about to say.

�I
was in charge of marketing Lee and you were my poster boy. Why do you think I
was running our asses along some of the more obscure areas of the ship at peak
hours? Gotta make sure everyone got a good look at you. If it is any
consolation, the only � model � that
out sold yours was Tyrol�s. Guess there is
something to be said for a man that has hands that can pick on the faintest
vibration two decks away.�

Appraising
each of his arms in turn, she opened the valve on her sensuality and let it
flow off of her in waves.

�I
am surprised we haven�t done this sooner.�

A
sly smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he took in the subtle shift in
her body language and the provocative tone in her voice. Dropping his lips and
letting his breath brush against the whorl of her ear, he matched her feminine sensuality
with his a dose of raw masculinity.

�Who
says we haven�t, Kara?�

Arching
her back reflexively at his barely-there caress, Kara had all she could do not
to turn her head and meet him eye to eye.

Lowering
his head just a little, he let his breath caress the delicate, sensitive column
of her neck.

�Every
time you take my namesake in your
hands and shudder with completion as my name falls from your lips makes me
think that the time for formalities has come and gone. So, I am thinking��

Losing
the fight to stifle a moan of pleasure from escaping her throat, Kara pressed
herself harder against the wall and chanced a look in his eyes. Biting the need
to correct him that she did not own a copy of his� namesake, she all but mewed at the sensations that were simmering
in her veins.

�What
are you thinking, Mr. Adama?�

Letting
her see sexual heat smouldering within every part of his body, Lee moved in and
stopped within an inch of Kara�s lips and saw her lids grow heavy and droop with
the beginnings of her arousal.

�I
think that there is no substitution for the real thing, Kara.�

Licking
his lips and dipping his head forward another fraction of an inch, it took
every ounce of self control to remember the reason why he was angry with her in
the first place and why he had thrown her in the brig.

Bouncing
back on his heels, he fired off his best Starbuck smirk and clicked his tongue
against the inside of his teeth.

�But
until then, let me say thank you on behalf of myself and the rest of the male population
for taking the pressure off us.� Changing his posture and voice to something
akin to relief, he broke the spell he so craftily created.

Pulling
out his own set of keys to the cell, he had the lock turned and snibbed back in
place by the time Kara gathered her wits, charged and wrapped her fingers
around the bars like she was wrapping her hands around his neck.

�Knowing
that you ladies are doing just fine � on
your own � is going to mean a lot of extra �quality rack time� for us guys.�

Stopping
at the hatch to the brig, Lee made sure Kara knew exactly to what he was referring
to with his parting remark.

�As
you were, Lieutenant.�

Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx�� BSG�� Xxx

One
week later�.

The
triad game had been going on for hours. All sorts of odds and ends were piled
in the middle of the table. Per usual, because the game had been going on so
long, there were more observers and back-seat card holders than players. Helo,
Starbuck, Apollo, Racetrack, Gaeta, Tyrol, and Dee were the
only ones left in the game and the stakes were high.

Upping
the ante, Apollo chased a shot of the Chief�s Brew with a pull on his cigar.

�Okay
people. I see your pass to Cloud Nine and raise you two maintenance shifts.�

A
round of low whistles and anxious looks swept the room.

�That�s
it. I�m out,� Gaeta announced.

Frowning,
Dee looked
longingly at the pot and back at her hand. It was a moment before she said,
�I�m out too. I can wire a communications system, but anything else is beyond
me. I�m out.�

Two
down, four to go, Lee calculated.

�Helo?
What say ye, man? In or out?�

Looking
at Starbuck and back at Apollo, Helo rubbed a bead of sweat off his forehead
with the sleeve of his shirt.

Tyrol threw his cards down.
�I work enough maintenance � like I want to give myself more work!�

Racetrack
nudged Helo with her elbow. �What do you think?�

Glancing
back and forth between Apollo and Starbuck, it took a full micron for Helo to
make up his mind.

�Well,
Starbuck has been sucking exhaust all night so that means that either her head
is not in the game or she is up to something and has been losing deliberately.
Apollo has been on fire all night so it becomes a matter of whether or not he
is going to crash and burn or he does a victory lap around the Galactica.�

A
drawn out pause had everyone stop talking.

�Out!�
Speaking at the same time, both Racetrack and Helo surrendered.

Cocking
his head in Starbucks direction, Apollo knew that she was scheduled pretty
tightly for the next few cycles. For her to even consider losing and having to
take on two extra shifts meant she had to have either a really crappy hand and
was counting on bluffing her way out of it or she was holding at least �four on
the run� behind her well-tapered fingers.

Placing
her cards face down on the table, Starbuck reached down and plopped a brightly
wrapped box on top of the kitty.

�I
see your shifts and raise you the contents of this box.�

Knocking
back a shot of brew, she fired a challenge at Apollo. �And, I call.�

�How
do I know that whatever is in the box is worth the equivalent of my ante?�
Apollo questioned.

�How
do you know it isn�t worth more?� Starbuck countered.

A
round of �oohs� and, �Got you there, Apollo,� peppered the room.

�Okay.
I�m in.� Keeping his blue eyes on Starbuck�s green eyes as he said, �You
first.�

�At
the same time,� she said.

Smirking
at him, she said, �That way, you can skip out if the pressure becomes too much
Apollo.�

�Done.
Helo, you count.� Apollo ordered.

Everyone
seated at the table began to rap their fingers against the table to the rhythm
of a modified drum roll.

�THREE!�
Helo shouted.

Two
sets of cards, one being full colours, were revealed at the same time followed
by everyone � except Starbuck � chanting, �Ah-Paul-Oh! Ah-Paul-Oh! Ah-Paul-Oh!�

Starbuck
slammed her back against her chair.

Scowling,
she sneered, �Go ahead. You might as well open it first.�

Ignoring
her petty-ass behaviour, Apollo agreed.

Rubbing
in the fact that he won and she lost, he grinned.

�I�ll
need the box to put all my fabulous new goodies into.�

Watching
Apollo pull off the paper and pry the flaps of the box apart, Starbuck tossed a
look in the Chief direction.

�Cally
is going to be released from Life Station soon?�

Watching
pieces of cleaning rags pile up on the table as Apollo dug into his box, Tyrol answered,
�Yeah. Hot Dog popped open his canopy as she was reaching to slide it back for
him and in the process she got knocked off the ladder. She hit the deck pretty
hard and was out cold for a few minutes. Doc Cottle said he�s gonna keep her
until oh-eight-hundred for observation.�

Sliding
her chair back, Starbuck rose from the table and walked out the room as she
told everyone who was not interested in what Apollo was pulling out of his box
that she was going to go see the young specialist.

�What
the frak?� Apollo inhaled sharply.

His
fingers brushed up against something that resembled the feel of an ejection
harness. Raising his arm, it was a length of ejection harness he lifted out.
Except that it was knotted differently. And attached to where thigh straps
secured the safety device to one�s hips was the largest, most obscenely sized
dildo he had ever conceptualized.

Hoots
and laughter stole the breath from anyone one who saw it. Gaeta was
opening and closing mouth but the only sounds that were coming out were
uncontrollable sniggers. Racetrack looked smug, Helo looked pleasantly
embarrassed.

Only
Dee � between
gasping for air � reached out and touched it. Rotating it, a sudden barking
laugh coming from her small frame had her dropping the phallus and falling back
in her chair.

�Oh,
frak me!� Apollo cursed.

Along
the length of one side of the dildo were different markings, each with a
different man�s name etched next to a measurement. All their names were there:
Helo, Gaeta, Apollo,
and Tyrol. Even Hot Dog was
given a spot at the very base of the phallus � connoting that he had the �smallest�
piece of �equipment� in the fleet.

Gauging
where he fell, and then looking down at his crotch, Helo shrugged his
shoulders. He had nothing to be embarrassed about. His �standing� was accurate
and fairly brag-worthy. Looking more closely and rolling the phallus around in
his hand, he saw what made Dee dissolve
into histrionics.

�I�d
agree with that. What about you Apollo?� Helo asked suggestively.

Still
processing that not only did Starbuck � no, correction, Kara � hand pick and orchestrate this little event, in effect
returning the gauntlet he threw down in the brig the previous week, he looked
at what Helo was referring to.

While
his name and the corresponding marking was accurate and was high enough that if
he ever encountered cold water he would have nothing to worry about if he
walked around without a towel wrapped around his hips, there was one name that
stretched from tip to base of the over-sized dildo.

S T A R B U C K.

Winging
a silent congratulation in her direction as everything clicked into place,
Apollo had to admit, that this time, she won.

There
was no way he was going to � top �
this one. At least not by tomorrow.
- 1
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