that vision thang - FIC: Instrument of the Gods, Chapter 2

The timelessness of the place in-between made Kara more compliant and less argumentative. Her life quickly became something she never expected. Her days were determined by the needs of her child. Caring for Tierra, with the help of Hestia, was a cycle of feeding, changing, playing. The child seemed to grow overnight, much quicker than seemed usual. When questioned, Hestia simple indicated that time was not normal here, and how it would affect a human child- even one of the line of gods and heroes- was not known. Uncharacteristically, Kara accepted that answer without a fight or any further questions. That is, until after Tierra began walking and imitating simple words like “mama” and Hera showed up again.

“Starbuck,” Hera called out to Kara, who was busy playing chase with Tierra in a grassy field. “It is time to answer the call to your destiny.”

Eye contact with Hestia assured that Tierra would be cared for. Kara rose and walked past the goddess, not waiting to see if Hera followed. Mortal or not, Hero or not, Kara was who she was, and she did not let anyone lead her around blindly. Once Kara had judged that they were far enough away that Tierra would not overhear anything- Kara was unsure, given Tierra’s extraordinary development, just how much she could understand, and was taking no chances- she stopped and faced Hera proudly. “And just what is my destiny?”

“To lead your Colonial Fleet to Earth.” Hera raised one eyebrow eloquently. “I thought you knew that already.”

“The dying leader brings the fleet to Earth,” Kara replied, her heart clenching tightly. She did not wish to die, to leave her daughter. The thought alone was enough to leave her breathless. “I’m not dying.”

Hera looked put-off. “A mistranslation, a silly mistake on the part of the scribes. It was dead, not dying. And as far as the Fleet is concerned, you are already dead.” She delicately sat down on the slope, indicating with a gentle wave that Kara should join her. “Check that attitude, Starbuck. At one time, you truly believed in we gods. Where is your reverence? Or at least respect?”

Kara had to question that herself. She had adamantly believed; her faith had brought her through so many of her difficult times. That strong belief had allowed her to cross into the mandela and yet had largely deserted her the moment she crossed the threshold. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly as she lowered herself beside the goddess.

A small smile played across Hera’s mouth as she considered the endless blue sky and clouds. “Probably the knowledge that we, too, make mistakes. At any rate, in my old age, I have learned to tolerate a great deal. I will tolerate this as well, as long as you do what I want.”

The old urge to be contrary blossomed in Kara, and she clamped it down, choosing instead to slowly shred a handful of grass blades slowly. “Just what is it that you want me to do?” She felt an odd sense of deja-vu from a life time ago, of a similar conversation with the President of the Colonies regarding a raider and an arrow. She hoped that, whatever Hera wanted, it would end better than that mess for her.

“You must return to the Colonial Fleet and lead them to Earth.” Hera smiled serenely.

Kara smirked back, throwing the last remnants of glass to the wind and asking sarcastically, “So, queen of the gods, are you showing me the way?”

A tinkle of laughter fell from Hera. “Of course, I will show you Earth.” She rose abruptly and began walking back towards Hestia and Tierra. “But your daughter will guide your way there.”

Kara froze, halfway up from the ground. “What?” She did like the sound of this.

Hera stopped mid-stride and faced Kara. “Tierra is the reason we were able to bring you here. The reason we needed you here. She is the means to save our children.”

Pausing for a moment, Kara continued rising and faced off against Hera with her arms stubbornly crossed. “She is my daughter. A little girl. She does not have a destiny carved out for her already. She will live her life as she wants-“ her voice had continued to rise as she spoke, ending near a full-throttle yell, when Hera quietly interrupted her.

“What life?” The cruelty in Hera’s voice cut Kara and turned her blood to ice. “She has a minor goddess as a governess, and a misplaced Hero as her mother. Who else have you met here, Kara? What life does Tierra have here?”

Reality lumped in Kara’s throat, unclenching tight muscles and allowing her arms to sag to her sides. This place had skewed her priorities, lulled her into an intellectual fog. Caught up in the details of motherhood and comfortable in her existence, Kara had forgotten the world. There was no real here; Tierra would be content here, but never happy and never know what real life was like. Real life, life before the Cylon attacks, not the half-life of terror and limited resources that Kara would be returning to. In that moment, Kara began a long, slow process of recovering Starbuck and resuming life. “How?”

The release of held breath by Hera let Kara know that Hera understood her participation in this plan was not yet won. “You will return to the Fleet. Tierra will stay here. In this in-between place, it will be possible for you to continue to speak to your daughter in your dreams. She will guide you to Earth.”

“She can barely talk yet-“ Kara began.

Hestia, holding the hand of a five or six year old tow-headed girl, appeared behind Hera. “I told you that time does not quite exist here. Tierra can appear at any age she wishes- any age you need her-“

Kara bit her lip. Looking at the girl was like looking at a picture of herself at six, before her father left and life went to hell. There was no way to deny, despite the logic of it, that this was her child. “How? Can you at least explain to me how this works? How can she be any age- I mean, to be a person, you need a past, a series of experiences-“

“Tierra is special in many ways, Kara,” Hera gently answered. “She is you, but not you. She knows everything you knew until her birth- your experiences are hers- but-”

“No!” Kara spat out. “No! I don’t want my daughter to ever know the things I have experienced!”

“It is too late, Mother,” Tierra appeared at Kara’s side to take her hand, suddenly sixteen or more. “I understand that this is not a usual mother-daughter bond. But this is how it is. I love you as much as if you had spent years raising me. I know my place in the world, my destiny. I embrace it, as I embrace the uniquenesses of my existence.”

Unnerved, Kara could only stare at the beautiful young woman with flowing golden curls and those damn Adama blue eyes. She was unable to articulate a response for long moments; in the intervening silence, Tierra’s eyebrow quirked up, and a corner of her mouth twisted into the beginnings of a trade mark Starbuck smirk. “On the bright side, you don’t have to change any more diapers, and I already understand the birds and the bees.”

Recovering quickly, Kara answered, “Don’t follow my example when it comes to booze or men.” Frowning slightly, still uncomfortable, she asked, “So why did you stay as a baby for so long?”

Tierra considered her answer. “I felt that you needed me to, that there had to be some normalcy to this whole odd place. To give you time to adjust.”

At this point, Hera intruded. “I can answer any questions you want to ask about the practicalities of this situation.”

“Can she ever leave this place?” Kara asked quickly. As much as she had been prepared to discard this child not so long ago, she had become attached. Kara did not want to have to leave her temporarily, much less forever; Kara also wanted this amazing child to be able to meet her father.

“Once you have reached Earth, she will be free of the in-between world.” Hera stated. Hestia nodded in agreement.

“Why?” Kara asked bluntly, tightly grasping her near-grown child’s hand tightly in her own. “Why is she a hostage? Why are you so interested in the Fleet reaching Earth?”

The slight hesitation before she spoke clued Kara in to Hera lying. “Because we owe our children that much.”

“What’s the real reason?” Kara continued to interrogate, her voice dropping and words becoming clipped.

“Vulcan,” Tierra answered in place of Hera. “The Thirteenth Colony no longer worships the gods and goddesses; they worship technology and science, and hence, Vulcan has become their chief and only god.”

Smoothing her wrinkle-less gown nervously, Hera took a deep breath that made her chest rise and fall appreciably as she let it out. “Zeus is the only one who can rule the other gods well. Vulcan is not well-liked, and cannot be allowed to ascend to the Throne of the Gods. Chaos- here and in the mortal realm- will ensue.”

“Prove it,” Kara shot back. “I don’t want to be a pawn in some power struggle between deities.”

Hestia licked her lips nervously, and looked to Hera for approval. At a slight incline of Hera’s head, Hestia breathed the words that would convince Kara to do this. “Vulcan is the god of the forge, of technology. Who do you think created the Cylons?”

“Frak!” Kara yelled. It was the one thing that would get her to agree to her role, without many questions.

“If we do not stop him, before he becomes too powerful-“ Hestia shook her head sorrowfully- “The Thirteenth Colony will go the way of the other Twelve. Humankind will be destroyed.”

“This has all happened before and will all happen again.” Kara muttered. “The Ages of Mankind. Each one different, yet all with the same ending- mankind dead and gone.”

Hera shook her head. “Yes. This is a new age, without a name, yet. The character and ending of this age has yet to be determined, but it is looking rather grim at this point.”

 “Leoben was right.” Kara’s mind could barely factor all this information in, so astonished was she that the Cylons could be right about anything. “We keep living out this script, with different scenes and actors, yet the same themes and ending each time. Gold, silver, bronze, heroic, iron- now chrome?”

“There is a new role in this age, a pivotal one,” Tierra spoke up. “Me. In the cycles previously, I was never born. I would not have been born in this one, but for the fact that you recognized and accepted your destiny.” She pulled her mother into an embrace. “I will do all that I can to change humanity’s fate, Mother.”

The depth of the truth’s meaning pulled Kara’s heart down. Seeing the big picture, she knew now that she had to return to the Fleet, to Lee- and without Tierra. Only Tierra, who existed out of time and place- and yet not- could help Kara guide the Fleet to Earth. The recognition of what had to be done did not make the doing of it any easier. Kara tried to ease her pain. “I have to leave,” she stated, rather than asked. All three- Hera, Hestia, and Tierra- nodded. “When?’ Kara asked in a shaky voice.

“Soon,” Hera answered. “But not immediately. You may have some time with your daughter, before returning.”

Kara nodded. “How will I-” she tried to ask.

“All will be dealt with in time.” Hera turned to go, but turned back. “You are a Hero, Kara, but you are also human. Know now, before you start this, just how hard it is to carry the burden of the gods- and how rewarding, in the end.” She then left, walking as stately as ever over the grassy hills and away from Kara and her daughter.