'The Captain's Hand' Story Code: '217' by Jeff Vlaning

One month after the siege of Cloud 9, in which Apollo was injured by friendly fire and Billy killed by terrorists, events aboard the fleet have calmed somewhat. A recovered Apollo is now sleeping with Dee, and soon receives news that he has been promoted to Major, and assigned to the Pegasus to assist Commander Garner - recently promoted from engine room chief – with addressing Starbuck’s disorderly behaviour. As the fleet enters a binary system, Buster and Shark take two teams of raptor pilots out on a training exercise; they investigate a distress call, but a region of intense radiation interferes with communications and they disappear off the Pegasus’ monitor screens. Meanwhile, Chief Tyrol and his team discover a stowaway hiding inside a packing crate loaded aboard the Galactica: a pregnant seventeen-year-old girl named Rya Kibby. After the girl is taken to Doctor Cottle for examination, she asks Admiral Adama for asylum so that she can have an abortion. When it is then discovered that Doctor Cottle has been providing this service to women in the fleet for the past few months, the situation immediately erupts into a political issue; the pro-life Gemenon faction threatens to pull its support for the President unless she condemns the practice of abortion and makes it illegal, but Roslin finds this clashes with her belief that women should be in control of their bodies. Tom Zarek admits to Baltar that he know he will not win against Roslin in the forthcoming Presidential elections, and but suggests that the Vice President stand instead. Apollo orders a rescue mission to locate the missing pilots, and it is not long before one of the patrols detects a faint distress signal. Apollo and Starbuck are immediately suspicious, and advise Garner that it could be a Cylon trap; however, the Commander refuses to listen, and, ignoring a direct command from Admiral Adama, he gives the order for the Pegasus to jump the origin of the signal; Apollo protests and attempts to take command, but he is overruled and placed under arrest. The recon teams find the missing raptors, only to discover that all crewmen aboard are dead. Out of nowhere appear three Cylon Base Ships, unleashing hundreds of deadly fighters and hitting the unprepared Pegasus with a devastating salvo of nuclear warheads…

Edward James Olmos (Admiral William Adama), Mary McDonnell (Laura Roslin), Katee Sackhoff (Captain Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace), Jamie Bamber (Major Lee 'Apollo' Adama), James Callis (Doctor Gaius Baltar), Tricia Helfer (Number 6), Grace Park (Lieutenant J.G. Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii), Michael Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh), Nicki Clyne (Crewman Specialist Cally),Alessandro Juliani (Lieutenant Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Petty officer 2nd Dualla), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Donnelly Rhodes (Doctor Cottle), John Heard (Commander Barry Garner), Alisen Down (Jean Barolay), Stephanie von Pfetten (Captain Marcia 'Showboat' Case), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), James Bell (Lieutenant Steve 'Red Devil' Fleer), Brad Dryborough (Hoshi), Tammy Hui (ECO Lyla 'Shark' Ellway), Patricia Idlette (Sarah Porter), Aaron Pearl (Abel Thornton), Amber Rothwell (Rya Kibby), Kurt Max Runte (Ensign Charles Bellamy), Christina Schild (Playa Palacios), Kavan Smith (Richard 'Buster' Bayer), Kimani Ray Smith (Pegasus Sergeant), Christian Tessier (Tucker 'Duck' Clellan)

Directed by Sergio Minica-Gezzan
Produced by Harvey Frand
Co-Executive Producer Toni Graphia
Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick
Consulting Producer Glen A. Larson

TX (US - Sci-Fi Channel):
17th February 2006 @ 10.00 pm

Notes:
*Featuring Commander Adama, Colonel Tigh, Major Apollo, Captain Starbuck, Lieutenant Boomer and Laura Roslin