The stars flashed by in neverending streaks of light. Apollo laughed, exhilirated by the speed and freedom. He was alone out here this time, by choice. Starbuck had been driving him insane, flirting with girls like there was no tomorrow. Apollo ground his teeth.

"But Pol," he'd protested, laughing, "They mean nothing to me, you know that. Only you." He'd stolen a kiss then, though Apollo had tried to avoid him.

"Only me, huh? Then why do I see less of you than they do?" Apollo glared at the stars, his joy in flight almost extinguished by the fire of resentment. "And why in flaming hells won't you go public, if I mean so much to you? Frack it all, that old excuse about what my father would say is just so lame..." He realized then how worked up he was getting and deliberately sidetracked himself.

He was out here alone for a reason, other than a means of escape. There had been a strange signal intercepted, emitted from this insignificant solar system. Three planets, sharing five moons, all orbiting a small second generation primary. The signal repeated at a steady interval of five microns. Quite annoying, really, but the bridge crew had ordered it investigated. It seemed to be coming from... there. Apollo pinpointed the source of the signal, on a moon of the middle planet. He rolled the Viper onto a new course, locked on the coordinates of the signal.

Music and laughter swirled through the air of the Rising Star, where Starbuck lounged with his latest light-of-love. A lovely lady indeed, Selina clung to his arm and gazed at him with guileless blue eyes. She leaned closer, displaying a generous amount of cleavage.

"Ooh, Starbuck," she cooed, "you are such a brave man! It takes someone special to be a Colonial Warrior..."

Starbuck smiled broadly as the praise continued to flow. Life was good.

Apollo settled the Viper into a synchronous orbit above the source of the annoying signal. This close, the computer was finally able to make sense out of the high speed gibberish. It ran the signal through all the standard encryption processes, humming briefly as it did so. Then it began to play back a translation: Danger... danger... danger... danger..

"Now tell me again how wonderful I am," Starbuck said, cuddling the giggling Selina closer still. "I rather liked that part..."

"Oh, you..." she pouted at him, lower lip thrust out charmingly. "You're supposed to tell me that now!"

"Okay then, I'm a wonderful person because..."

They giggled together like naughty children. As their lips met, Starbuck felt a pang of conscience. Ah well, what Apollo didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Frack!" The Viper shuddered as it took hit after hit. Little automated seeker drones had come out of nowhere to attack, firing tiny but disproportionately powerful laser bursts. There were at least a dozen of them—at first. Apollo sent the Viper into a twisting evasive pattern at top speed, then spun it about and vaporized half of the little balls. The survivors scattered to a safe distance, and Apollo resumed his course, one eye glued warily to the scanner. There was something else emanating from the surface of the moon, another high-frequency signal, but barely strong enough to be received. The computer chattered and hummed, analyzing the signal. The scanner flashed as the seeker balls moved into an organized attack pattern, and Apollo returned his full attention to avoiding their laser beams.

"What the frack is going on here?" Apollo stared in confusion as the seekers suddenly shot away in tight formation. He took off in hot pursuit, blasting them out of the sky. They were heading for a... oh no!

"What do you make of this signal, sir?" Athena was puzzled. Colonel Tigh was no less puzzled, frowning as he leaned over the communications console.

"It looks almost like a command center, coordinating an attack," he said at length. "See, if you track the signals, they all emanate from a central point, then spread out to different targets. Where are you picking this up from?"

Athena took a deep, steadying breath. "The system where Captain Apollo was sent on recon."

Apollo was in deep shit. He knew it, and there was nothing he could do about it. So he did the only thing he could think of- transmitted a warning to the Galactica, telling them to avoid this system at all costs and not to attempt rescue. Then he said a quick prayer and settled down to do some serious flying.

The seeker balls had lured him into a distortion field. The Viper bucked and kicked like a stubborn beast, throwing Apollo about the cockpit and making it hell to maintain any kind of course. A massive battle platform hung in orbit about the planet below, previously hidden from his scanners by the bulk of the moon. The computer beeped, signalling an incoming transmission.

"Identify." A flat distorted voice, no hint of humanity- or even organic life.

"Captain Apollo of Battlestar Galactica, on a recon—"

"Purpose is irrelevant. Organic lifeform, designation Captain Apollo, intruder on Mzn space."

What the hell was a Mzn?

"Sir, we're receiving a message from Apollo," Athena said, interrupting the worried discussion between Tigh and Adama. Conversation stilled as Apollo's voice filled the room, distorted by sharp bursts of static.

"Battlestar, this is Apollo. I am under attack from an unknown source. Repeat, I am under attack. The signal was a warning. Do not approach this system. Do not attempt to send support. The attackers appear to be—"

A massive crackle, then nothing.

"Lieutenant Starbuck—"

Starbuck didn't look up from Selina. "Go away, 'm busy," he muttered. Selina giggled.

"Lieutenant Starbuck! There has been a message from Captain Apollo."

Starbuck shot upright. The messenger shifted uneasily, pointedly not looking at Selina. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"The Captain is under attack from an unknown source. He said not to attempt rescue."

"Like hell! What is happening? I need the details now, man."

The computer chirped inanely, reporting success in deciphering the second signal from the moon. Apollo rolled the Viper, narrowly avoiding a fat laser bolt from the Mzn platform.

"If you have received this message, you are probably too late to escape. The Mzn have laid claim to my homeworld, destroying all organic lifeforms. I am the last. I will not last much longer, but I must try to warn all comers from this system. The Mzn will destroy all. Fighting them is futile—they learn your tactics in nanoseconds, reflect them back at you. The only hope of escape is to outfly them. They are not fast, but they are wily. Beware traps. Good luck, stranger, and may Corvella guide and keep you."

"Outfly them, huh?" Apollo gritted his teeth. That one had come a bit too close—his hull was singed within inches of the canopy.

He held off the fire button for a moment and laid on more speed. The Viper was bucking in a predictable pattern now, as waves of disruption caught it and tossed it off course. Hundreds of seeker balls tailed him, shooting sharp bursts of laser fire. The giant battle platform hung before him, a silent menace. He had received no more communications.

"Maybe if I go up?" He pulled the Viper out of its tight spiral with exquisite timing, just at the low point of the disruption wave. It shot sweetly straight up, relevant to the platform, caught in the trough of the wave. The seekers shot by under him, some already correcting course to follow him. He opened the throttle all the way, feeling the incredible g-forces push him back into his seat. Then he was free- the Viper jolted, then steadied, as he cleared the disruption field. Behind him, another flight of seekers was released from the platform, swarming after him like a nest of angry insectoids.

"Yeah, let's see you keep up with this!" he growled, then swore as a mine field loomed up before him. Twisting and turning, he managed to avoid hitting any of the mines, but the effort had cost him speed and time. The seekers were within firing range again, and his ship couldn't handle much more. The shielding could only handle so much stress, so many hits—and then he was a goner.

"What do you mean, no?" Starbuck was frantic. Colonel Tigh tried to keep him calm, to no avail.

"Starbuck, the Captain said no rescue attempt. It's that simple. Now will you calm down, or will I have to send you to the brig?"

"But it's Apollo—" Starbuck, wild-eyed, looked around the bridge for support. He found none. "Somebody's got to do something!"

"If anyone can get out of a hopeless situation, it's Apollo." Adama hid the strain well. It only showed in the tension around his eyes. "Have faith."

"Faith," Starbuck muttered. What good was faith, when Apollo could already have been destroyed?

"Frack!" Apollo, frantic, punched buttons and flipped switches. That last hit had nearly taken out one of his engines—it was now only sixty percent operational. "Only one chance at this, better get it right..." He rerouted power from all inessential systems to the damaged engine. With another prayer, he hit the thruster button.

Nothing happened.

"Son of a daggit!" he yelled, and pounded on the control panel. With a whine of protest, the Viper began to pick up speed. Too slow, too slow—Apollo gave over trying to avoid the laser bolts, steering a straight course. If he could just clear that moon...

"Starbuck?"

He didn't look up from his ambrosa.

"Starbuck, why didn't you come back?"

Selina slid into the booth opposite him. "Go away," he muttered, lost in his own thoughts.

"But Starbuck, I'm lonely, and you promised—"

"I said go away!" He glared at her furiously, and she recoiled. "Apollo's out there in danger, maybe dead! You think I want to waste time with you, when they won't let me fly to help him?"

"But—but—" Big tears welled up in her eyes, and her lip trembled. "Aren't I more important to you?"

"No." The harsh tone made her flinch. "Nothing is more important to me than Apollo—nothing and no one. Now go away."

He returned his attention to his ambrosa until she left.

"Come on baby, you can do it!" Apollo cheered the Viper on, as it drew slowly away from the pursuit. All his gauges were in the red, the Viper was shaking furiously, but the seekers were dropping back. "Just a little bit more, come on—"

The scanner showed the seekers come to an abrupt halt. Apollo cheered wildly with relief as the swarm dwindled into insignificance on his screen. Then alarms began to go off, and red lights flashed wildly.

"Uh-oh..."

Time dragged on slowly. Starbuck, alone and miserable in his corner of the OC, grew increasingly morose. There had been no word, none at all, in the last several hours. What was he going to do, if Apollo didn't come back this time? How was he to live, alone? He wasn't meant to be alone. He was half of a team, the Starbuck-and-Apollo team. They belonged together. Not apart, together.

Pol... he thought, gazing blindly into his ambrosa. I never treated you right. Just come back to me, and I'll make it up to you, I swear...

"Not good. Not good at all." Communications were down, the damaged engine was down, life support was at half, the survivng engines were at half, the nav program was fluctuating... and still Apollo was grinning. He had made it through alive! Now to get back to the Galactica...

The night dragged on. Starbuck ignored the unusually subdued crowd in the OC, ignored everything except his own inner pain. Apollo wasn't coming back this time. It had been far too long. The Captain, such a stickler for protocol, would have sent word long ago had he survived. He was going to have to go through life alone. What good was life, when he was missing his other half?

There was a commotion at the door. Athena pushed through a mass of excited questioners, beaming. Starbuck saw her, felt a faint twitch of hope.

"We didn't want to tell you until we were certain," Athena began, sliding into the seat opposite him. "We've picked up an incoming Viper—"

Athena found she was talking to air. Starbuck was already off towards the docking bay at a dead run.

Apollo sighed with relief as he felt the Galactica take over his ship, then coughed. The air was truly foul in there. The Viper eased slowly into Alpha Dock, to settle in the center of the bare floor. As soon as atmospere was restored, people were rushing in, Starbuck in the lead. Apollo unsealed the canopy, taking a great gasp of the welcome fresh air. Starbuck was there, helping him undo his flight harness. Then he was pulled into a fierce hug.

"Pol..." Starbuck pulled back enough to take in his lover's condition—and his smiling face. "Don't you ever go off without me again!" Then he was kissing Apollo, in full view of the entire welcoming party.

"Mmph!" Apollo struggled away, gasping for air. "I missed you too!" he laughed, "Now let me out of this fracking thing! It stinks. I stink. And if I don't get to a turboflush like now, there's going to be a problem..."

Starbuck grinned, a silly happy grin. Yes, it was definitely his Apollo! He helped Apollo down from the Viper, into the jubliant crowd. People stared at the way he clung to his lover, but he didn't care. Let 'em stare—be damned if he was going to let public opinion ruin this homecoming!