“The Captain’s Hand” is episode seventeen of season two of the new Battlestar Galactica.
Two Raptors leave Pegasus on a training mission. Interference from the binary stars is making communications difficult.
Apollo is with Dee in the pilot’s locker room; they have started a relationship though he’s still healing from being shot in the previous episode, “Sacrifice”. Apollo is heading to Pegasus on temporary assignment, because Starbuck is driving Commander Garner up the wall since she started flight training on the Beast. He’s also been promoted to major.
Cally brings Chief Tyrol to a container; there’s something moving inside it. Marines have been called. The chief goes in anyway. There’s a young woman inside; she asks if this is Galactica and if he’s Dr Cottle. She’s pregnant.
Pegasus‘s Raptors have got an unclear transmission that sounds like a distress call. They try to call it in, but their transmission is unclear and Pegasus thinks it’s them in distress. Both disappear from Pegasus‘s DRADIS.
Apollo arrives on Pegasus; Starbuck welcomes him to the ship. The head to CIC and Garner explains they’ve lost two Raptors on a training mission. Starbuck didn’t know and Garner suggests that she should have been on the flight deck monitoring them.
Starbuck heads to find the other pilots and demands to know why she only found out about two Raptors being lost when the commander threw it in her face. Because they’ve been ordered not to discuss Pegasus‘s flight deck outside Pegasus‘s crew. Starbuck asks whose bright idea that was. No-one answers. She realises it was Garner and calls him barely competent and paranoid.
Apollo is speaking to Garner, who has a problem with Starbuck. Apollo says he knows how to handle her. Garner goes off on one about nobody gets slack cut in the engine room. It seems he has a massive chip on his shoulder.
On Colonial One, President Roslin’s new assistant, Tory Foster, replacing the dead Billy, tells her it’s time for a campaign meeting. They do have an election coming up, unless the president has decided not to run. Roslin has thought about it, but there’s too much to do. Tory says she’s doing well with civilians, the military and the religious. Roslin says her only real threat is a convicted terrorist.
Said convicted terrorist is currently saying he could lead the fleet, and would have had a chance if Roslin hadn’t moved from politician to prophet. He can’t win. But Gaius Baltar, the one he’s talking to, could. Gaius acts as if he needs convincing. Zarek says he’s pre-sold and some prefer the assurances of cold science to the superstitious ravings of the Geminese. Zarek is happy to back a man who remembers his friends.
Apollo arrives in the pilot’s briefing room. Their CAG is missing after mouthing off to Garner; Garner doesn’t get much respect from the pilots. Apollo brings them to heel. They have two missing Raptors that will be out of oxygen in 36 hours. He wants them to think outside the box. So0mething Starbuck is supposed to be good at.
Cottle is telling Adama that the young woman is four months pregnant and doesn’t want to be. Adama asks why Cottle was asked for by name. Cottle doesn’t ask questions. Adama talks to the girl; her parents are worried. She asks not to be sent back to her parents, because of what they’d do to her. Adama says she’s a stowaway. Cottle says she’s practically a victim of political persecution; she could apply for asylum. She does.
A meeting is held regarding the young woman on Colonial One. The Geminon representative has issues; they are opposed to abortion, even though it was legal in the Colonies before the attack. The Geminon rep essentially threatens not to support Roslin in the election. Once Adama and Roslin are the only ones left, Adama brings something up. Namely, the number of people in the fleet. It doesn’t go up very often. As Roslin said, if they want to save the human race, they need to start having babies.
Starbuck is looking through the Raptors’ last transmission, and comes to the conclusion that they said they had received a distress call. They fill in Garner who has a go at Starbuck not knowing what was happening with the Raptors – even though it’s because of him she didn’t know anything.
Garner, as Starbuck said, isn’t a good commander. Though he is a good engineer. The skillset hasn’t transferred and he’s putting the ship at risk. Starbuck and Apollo clash; it probably doesn’t help that she accidentally shot him. Then there’s the matter of what to do about the pregnancy.