Chapter 15
(Adama's POV)

"I understand that," says Laura, "but while she may have shown some rather poor judgment in failing to report this immediately the truth is that, as you pointed out, this is not really an urgent matter so this delay is unlikely to be relevant in the long run. In fact this information is not something we were actively looking for so what we have is more than what we expected anyway. Besides, she wasn't the only one who was aware of this development and chose not to say anything. Lieutenant Agathon too was aware of what had happened back on Caprica and he too failed to report it."

"Yes, but he wasn't there," I remind her, knowing that even though she has a point, it was Kara who should have said something.

"I'm not trying to defend what Lieutenant Thrace did, all I'm saying is that if Lieutenant Agathon had reported this information immediately this delay could easily have been avoided so it is not entirely fair to place the blame squarely on her shoulders."

"I agree that Helo could have handled the whole thing better but..."

"But that is not what this is really about, is it?" she interrupts me.

"What do you mean?" I ask, somewhat taken aback by that question.

"I mean that I know you and, even though you are not happy about the fact that Lieutenant Thrace kept that information from you in the first place, the fact that she didn't tell you is not what has you this upset."

"No, you are right. I am also angry because in her attempt to keep this from coming out she took a number of stupid chances when she really should have known better!"

"So the problem is not so much that you are angry but rather that you are worried?" she asks, twisting my words and raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm angry. She should have received medical attention the moment she came back!" I snap, wondering when I lost control of this conversation... wondering if I was ever in control of this conversation.

"And that is my fault more than it is anyone else's," she points out. "You weren't even there when she came back, I was, and you are right: I should have noticed that there was something wrong with her but I didn't. As for your anger, well, the truth is that --seeing how Lieutenant Thrace is currently in sickbay-- I would say that she is already paying for the consequences of her actions. Now, I'm not going to tell you that she shouldn't have said something sooner because we both know she should have but the truth is that you shouldn't take your anger out on her when you are really mad at yourself."

"I'm not..." I begin but she interrupts me.

"Yes, you are. You are thinking that you should have realized that there was something wrong with her, I know I am, but the bottom line is that Lieutenant Thrace is not responsible for our failure in that regard."

"She should have said something!" I insist.

"Yes, but as you said, that girl is too damned stubborn... and that's what makes her so special, that's what's kept her alive: the fact that she just doesn't know how to quit."

"Or ask for help for that matter," I mutter, realizing that Laura actually has a point.

"Okay, so there's that too," she says with a hint of a smile.

"I just wish she would trust me."

"And what makes you think that she doesn't?" asks Laura, looking at me and all of a sudden I realize that I have said too much.

"It's nothing," I reply, though I suspect that that is not going to cut it.

"Somehow I don't think so."

"It has nothing to do with this."

"I don't believe you," she pushes.

"What?"

"I mean, I believe you when you say that it has nothing to do with the cylons' activities, of course, I know you wouldn't lie about something like that but I think it has a lot to do with what has you so upset."

"I'm not lying and it's personal," I reply.

"Yes, and that's probably what Lieutenant Thrace told you about why she hadn't said anything in the first place. That's what's really bothering you, isn't it? It's not so much what she didn't tell you but why," she says, narrowing her eyes and I know I'm in trouble here.

"She should have told me what had happened... and she should certainly have told me what Leoben had said!"

"Leoben?" she asks, sounding more than a little puzzled.

"It turns out that this incident with the farm is not the first thing she has decided to keep to herself. Apparently there were also some things that came out while she was questioning Leoben that she conveniently 'forgot' to mention," I explain.

"Care to fill me in?"

"Apparently the cylons have been watching her for some time. For some reason they seem to be convinced that she is special somehow, that she has a destiny of some sort."

"A destiny?" she repeats.

"That's what they said but we don't really know what they mean by that... and apparently neither does she," I say, letting out a resigned sigh.

"But we know this is real?"

"Yes, at least as far as the fact that the cylons have been keeping an eye on her goes. Leoben mentioned some things that proved to her that he wasn't bluffing... and it wasn't just Leoben. Apparently Sharon too said something to that effect back on Caprica."

"And she decided that that was personal?" asks Laura.

"Yes."

"So what do we know about this 'destiny' of hers?"

"Not as much as I would like," I mutter. "As with the farm, Cottle won't even allow me to question her while she is in sickbay. In fact I found out about it almost by accident."

"That must have been some accident."

"Yes. Basically Lieutenant Agathon asked her what Sharon had meant when she had said that Leoben had told her that she was special."

"I see. Well, Bill, I have to say that I agree that she should have told us about this," says Laura, sounding unusually concerned.

"You seem to be more worried about this than about the farms," I point out, somewhat surprised by that fact.

"As you said, there is nothing we can do about the farms and, as disturbing as the concept behind those may be, the truth is that they don't represent an immediate threat but if the cylons are after Lieutenant Thrace in some way we need to know about it, if for no other reason than to do our best to keep her away from them. I sent her back to Caprica..."

"Do you really expect me to believe that if you had known about this you wouldn't have done that?" I ask.

"To tell you the truth I don't know. We needed that arrow. I believed that then, I believe it now and she was the only person qualified to go because she was the only one who could fly that raider, that hasn't changed, but at the same time it was extremely dangerous and I knew that the chances that she would be either killed or captured were high."

"In fact she was captured and almost killed," I remind her.

"Yes, but what I still don't understand is why she decided to keep what Leoben had told her to herself in the first place," says Laura and I realize that she is not going to let this go.

"I do," I admit after hesitating for a moment.

"You do?"

"Yes."

"And are you going to fill me in any time soon?"

"I think it had to do with how Leoben proved to her that they had been watching her... it had to do with what he knew about her."

"And what he knew was something you didn't know, wasn't it? It was something that was deeply personal, something she had never told you about, something she never wanted you to know and that's what's really bothering you, isn't it?" she says, putting the pieces together and I know I have no way out of this now.

"Yes, it was about her mother..." I begin but I can't bring myself to say more than that. I trust Laura, I really do, and I am also aware that as the President of the Twelve Colonies she has a right to know everything that is going on here but at the same time I can't bring myself to betray Kara like that.