Adia Costas

The afternoon passes slowly, but not slowly enough.

Adia returns to her lab and works through her samples, but her thoughts are elsewhere. With each adjustment of the microscope knob, she has to breathe through the tight knot of nerves twisting her up inside. All the hypothetical conversations running through her head aren’t preparing her for seeing Caspar in the slightest.

What if he doesn’t apologize? What if he does, but it isn’t sincere?

What if he does everything right, and she still can’t forgive him?

She reaches for the tray of ocean water samples and accidentally knocks the whole thing over.

“Dammit!”

Grabbing her windbreaker and the tray (thank goodness nothing broke), she heads down to the beach to refill everything. There are children playing along the shore; a few beachcombers are gathering shells and driftwood. She collects her samples, answers questions about the ocean life. A gust of wind carries off a little girl’s hat and she helps chase after it.

By the time she returns to the lab, she is sandy and windswept, and her hair is a mess.

Caspar is there.
( Read more... )

[One week prior to the Second Cylon War.]

“Flowers, huh? I had no idea Caspar had it in him. He’s gonna make the rest of us lovestruck fools have to up our game.”

Adia giggled at Seth’s joke, then looked once more at the bouquet of birthday tulips sitting pretty on her desk. “I had no idea, either,” she admitted, touching one of the soft, orange petals. “It was very sweet of him.”

“I’m happy for you, kid. Listen, Maggie wants you in the conference room tonight after dinner. She has a surprise for you.”

“A cake?” Her smile turned a shade uneasy. “And a party, probably…”

Seth laughed and clapped her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I told her to keep the guest list to a minimum. Make sure you bring your boyfriend.”

“He’s not — we haven’t even gone on a date, yet,” she protested, even as a giddy blush spread across her face.

“Uh huh.” Seth tapped the side of his nose. “The dude is head over heels for you. He’s your boyfriend.”
( Read more... )

The rest of Adia’s shift passes quietly, but when she is led by her escort to the captain’s office, she is alarmed by the frenetic activity that surrounds her. Military workers are wheeling away large pallets of equipment, and refugees are being herded about like cattle. It feels like an evacuation, but there are no sirens, no shouts of panic.

It’s unnerving.

Captain Agathon is directing traffic outside his office door when she arrives. He turns to look at her, and she stifles a gasp. His eyes are red-rimmed, his face pale and distraught.

He’s been crying.

“Adia.” He forces a smile. “Sorry to make you come all this way. I can’t meet with you until later.”

“What happened?” she asks. “I heard an explosion, but…”

His smile crumbles. “Hera was kidnapped.”
( Read more... )

Standing in Galactica’s hangar bay, waiting for her military escort, Adia placed a hand over her blazer’s pocket and felt the reassuring outline of her PINpoint. It was a gesture she’d likely be doing all day, anxious to get through her medical shift so she could finally meet with Captain Agathon and tell him about the Nexus.

Distracted by her nerves, she didn’t notice the Six approaching until the taller woman was right in front of her. “Adia!” she said, smiling with relief, reaching out, her fingertips grazing Adia’s sleeves. “You made it. I’m so happy.”

Adia stared up at the Cylon. Her hair, unlike most other Sixes, was dyed brown. “Julia?” she said hesitantly. She couldn’t think of another Six who would know who she was, let alone care about her.

Laughing sheepishly, Julia brushed a dark lock behind her ear. “Yes, sorry. It’s me. I thought I’d try something a little different…”

“It looks nice on you,” Adia replied. Julia blushed and giggled shyly at the compliment, which didn’t seem much like her, either. But a profound sense of relief flooded Adia anyway, to see her savior alive and well. “You made it, too. I was worried you’d be punished for what you did to Four…”

Julia’s smile slid into a bitter smirk. “Oh, believe me, they tried. Our schism came at a rather convenient time.” And then she lost her smile completely, her eyes bright with anger. “He would have killed you. Or worse. If I’d known sooner how quickly he’d turn from the Plan…”

“The Plan?”

“God’s plan. To show the humans mercy…” The anger in her eyes dulled to shame. “Not that the rest of us were doing much better… I’d blame it on One spoon-feeding us lies, but…”

Adia had never seen Julia so remorseful. Her pretty features were etched with guilt. “Julia. You saved my life.” She patted her arm reassuringly. “You were always nice to me.”

“That’s because you made it easy.” Julia’s warm smile returned. “I spent all that time talking about God, when what I should have been doing was listening. Especially to you, Adia. You showed me far more kindness than I deserved.”

The compliment was nearly too much, especially considering the source. Julia had changed far more than the color of her hair. “You listened well enough. We’re friends now, right?”

She had meant to say “allies”, but considering the delighted grin she received in return, she was grateful for her accidental word choice. “Yes,” replied Julia. “We are. And I can keep protecting you, like I should have done from the beginning.”

Adia’s brows furrowed. Only now did she take in the raptor flight suit that Julia was wearing. “But… but that’s so dangerous. You can’t resurrect anymore.”

“So?” A hint of a patronizing smile crossed her lips, the old Julia peeking out from behind her new repentant persona. “Humans don’t resurrect, and yet you risk your lives, every day. Besides, I’m good at it.” She mimed firing off a round of cannon fire. “Helps me get out my aggression.”

Adia knew that she should laugh, that Julia was showing off for her benefit, but worrying about others was a hard habit to break. “Okay… stay safe, though. As safe as you can.”

“I will.” She leaned in, then seemed to think better of it, placing a hand on Adia’s shoulder instead and giving it a gentle squeeze. “You, too.”

People are strange.

When humanity was at its lowest point on New Caprica, the twelve tribes were able to set aside their differences and escape the Cylon occupation. But now that the Fleet is closer than ever to finding Earth, that united front is cracking.

The shift in mood begins when Gaius Baltar is acquitted of treason. Many colonists were looking for someone to blame for the Cylon invasion and subsequent occupation. Denying them that perceived justice has them furious and searching for a new scapegoat.

And then, because Gaius “self-proclaimed genius” Baltar can’t simply lay low like a normal person, he has to go and start his own religion. It’s a monotheistic cult that preaches love and ascending one’s fate — heresy for many, but appealing enough for some that he gains a sizable following. It sparks political discord in the Quorum of Twelve. It nearly ignites a spiritual war.

There are fractures within the Cylon Fleet as well, ones that blossom into a civil war, but Adia does not learn about this until the Demetrius returns from a scouting mission with a Cylon basestar in tow. It contains Twos, Sixes, and Eights, but no Fives.

Adia had not even had time to get her hopes up, but it still stings, knowing that Caspar continues to be the enemy.
( Read more... )

Spending as much time as she does in the Nexus, Adia often has to play catch-up when she returns to her ship. Where are they in space? Are the Cylons any closer to the Fleet?

How much progress have they made towards finding Earth?

She usually asks one of the ship’s crew. They are always so engrossed with their duties that they never notice her absence or wonder at her obvious questions. But this afternoon, it is the crew who is absent, and Adia walks the halls alone, fretting over where everyone has gotten to.

Her search leads her to the entertainment room, where she finds not only the crew, but everyone else on board, including her friends Maggie and Seth. They wave her over, Maggie rising from her seat despite the awkwardness of her pregnant belly. “Girl, where have you been? Captain Sousa called an all-hands over an hour ago so we could watch President Roslin’s address on the vid comm.”

Adia laughs nervously, fingers twisting into the ends of her scarf. “I, um… I was really wrapped up in my work?” Maggie gives her a skeptical look, but otherwise doesn’t comment, much to her relief. “What’d I miss?”
( Read more... )

It is the smallest of blessings that they don’t come for her in the night like the others.

Instead, she’s greeted in the morning by a masked police officer and an armed Centurion. The police officer is polite, informs her that the Cylons only want to ask her a few questions about her neighbor, a suspect in the most recent Resistance bombing. He waits for her to get her coat and gently herds her towards the detention center.

She thinks about running. She thinks about the PINpoint hidden under her mattress.

She thinks about the shiny metal robot with machine guns for arms following a pace behind her and she lets herself be guided without protest.

By the time she is led into an interrogation room and told to have a seat, her heart is ready to hammer out of her chest. Nobody has threatened her yet. Nobody needs to. This is already her worst nightmare.

( Read more... )

((tl;dr -- Adia is unjustly questioned until a Five comes to her rescue. Adia works up the nerve to talk to him, thinking that it's Caspar. It doesn't go well.))

After the Nexus Halloween party, Adia returned her wig to the costume shop, washed off her make-up, and used her PINpoint to go home. She slept little that night, still keyed up from the festivities. It had been like a fairy tale, an enchanted evening, even with the troubling news of Reynard’s behavior last winter.

But like all fairy tales, she had to return to reality. And the worst part was that she couldn’t talk about what happened with anyone.

Not with Maggie and Seth, her closest friends. She gave them wrapped candies from the party, lied and said that they were from an old stash in the ship’s commissary. Not with the elderly couple from Picon who reminded Adia so much of her parents that her heart hurt. Not with her fellow co-workers, or the people who came to the health clinic.

Certainly not with Julia or any other Cylon whose paths she crossed.

William was unusually quiet, pacing back and forth when Adia joined him in his tent. He paused to greet her, but didn’t say much aside from idle pleasantries. She felt guilty over how much she enjoyed the silence as they simply held one another on his makeshift bed, nothing more than a rag-stuffed mattress that caved into their combined weight.

“Hey,” he said finally, turning to look at her. “Sorry I don’t have anything to say. Things are moving forward with… you know. Big plans.” He didn’t seem excited or smug about it. There was nothing but worry in his green eyes. “I can’t talk about it.”

Adia nodded and ran a hand through his hair. “I understand.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he said hurriedly. He smiled wryly. “Even if I know you’d argue with me about it. But it’s not safe for you to know.” He took her hand in his and brought it to his chest. “I feel like I can tell you anything, y’know? You always listen to me.”

She smiled softly. It had been a while since William had something that tender to her. The Occupation had not been good for their relationship.

“And if there’s anything you want to talk about,” he continued earnestly. “I’m here for you. You know that, right?”

She thought of the PINpoint in her inner pocket, and the Nexus. She thought of the food, and the dancing, and the talk of not one Earth, but many.

“I know,” she lied, closing her eyes.

It had been over a year since the last of humanity landed on a barely habitable planet and named it New Caprica. 379 days since President Baltar led his people in a hope for a new beginning, a place to start over, free from the terror of the cylons.

379 days since Adia gave up on the hope of reaching Earth.

It hadn't been all bad. President Baltar was not the amazing visionary he had made himself out to be, but people were getting stuff done. Adia's research was proving useful, and she had found someone to care about again. She very rarely had bad dreams about Caspar anymore, and she couldn't remember the last time she had a good dream about him (which in some ways were the worst dreams of all).

The Nexus was still her personal outlet, and she had visited not one, but two different Earths. It satisfied her wanderlust and her desire for home all at once.

379 days, and she was finally moving on.

On the 380th day, the cylons landed.

They hadn't stopped looking for the Fleet, Adia later learned, and Cloud 9's nuclear explosion gave away their last location. So they arrived. Thousands upon thousands of shiny Centurions, guns at the ready. And the human-looking ones. All seven models.

The few ships that were orbiting New Caprica, including Battlestar Galactica, immediately jumped into hyperspace and disappeared. Adia understood why later -- stay and be destroyed or escape and hope to come back for a rescue -- but at the time she felt utterly abandoned.

Adia was in her lab when the colony went into emergency lock-down. If she had been in her quarters, she could have PINpointed to the Nexus. Instead, she waited anxiously by the wireless for news. It was just like when the war started. Except this time, there was no Caspar to comfort her.

Now, Caspar was the enemy.

Finally, news arrived. The humans and cylons were going to try out a coalition government and attempt peaceful relations.

Nobody cheered.

President Baltar called a general assembly. Some colonists attended in person, but Adia stayed in her lab and watched on a computer screen. The camera panned along the stage and --

She hadn't meant to cry out, but there he was. Two of him, in fact.

Almost two years without him, and just one day to undo everything.

On Election Day, Adia places her vote and then goes to work, but no one in her lab gets much done. They're all too busy listening to the wireless. Both candidates give last minute speeches, and reporters comment on the results as the votes are tabulated.

When Doctor Baltar wins, reaction is mixed. Some of Adia's colleagues are pleased that such an esteemed scientist won, others are disappointed in President Roslin's loss. Adia keeps her thoughts to herself. It wasn't too long ago that she thought Earth was a pipe dream, too. But settling on New Caprica seems too much liking giving up, and she's already given up so much.

Later that day, the Fleet makes a sudden jump through space, but Adia doesn't notice. The FTL drives are designed for seamless travel. It's the klaxons and sudden Emergency Lockdown that gets her attention. She's been through several before; some real, some just drills.

For whatever reason, this doesn't feel like a drill.

Lockdown does not last long, not even long enough for Adia to contemplate getting out her PINpoint. She convenes with others on her ship in the mess hall to learn what happened.

A nuclear warhead was detonated on Cloud Nine. The ship was obliterated. No survivors. The fleet made an emergency jump to escape further damage.

Suddenly, the election doesn't seem so significant.