“The Passage” is episode ten of season three of the new Battlestar Galactica.
Athena is flying a Raptor on a bumpy ride through a bright nebula.
Adama and Dr Cottle are speaking to President Roslin over the wireless. There was a bad batch of food which has resulted in all of it becoming tainted. They need Athena to find them algae to process on the other side of a star cluster. Roslin asks what happens if there’s no clear passage; how long will they survive? 7-10 days according to the doctor. And when is Athena due back. Three hours ago. Helo is sure she can cope with the radiation levels and that she’ll be back any minute.
Athena is starting to cough as her radiation badge is darkening.
In the pilots’ room, they’re divvying up food. Kat says she has nothing and starts squabbling with Starbuck until Apollo stops them. He tells them to eat; they’re getting paranoid with hunger.
The Raptor isn’t looking good; parts of the outside are burning. Inside, there are warnings and Athena’s radiation badge is blackening.
On a Cylon baseship, D’Anna Biers slips out of the bed she’s sharing with Gaius and Caprica Six. Gaius notices and asks what’s she’s doing. D’Anna has things to do. Gaius comments after she leaves that he doesn’t understand what they do all day long, living on the baseship like fleas on a cat. He asks where D’Anna goes to. Caprica says he’s not the only one asking. She’s doing things. Gaius wonders what things.
The Raptor is back and is being serviced by deck crew in protective suits; Athena gets a decon shower. She tells Adama and the others there’s a way through the star cluster. She found a planet with huge spots of algae like they thought. Her radiation badge is solid black. Helo is concerned but Athena says she’s fine. Adama says maybe she is, but a human won’t make it.
The president is briefed. It will take two jumps but the civilian ships aren’t shielded enough. Galactica can’t harvest the algae by itself; it would take dozens of trips and the fleet would be undefended. The president suggests sending them through with a skeleton crew. Unfortunately, their nav systems would be fried and Athena says the light is blinding. They’ll drift, get lost and burn up. Adama suggests pairing a Raptor with each civilian ship; their nav systems are hardened.
Apollo and Starbuck brief the pilots. They’ll all be flying solo, so use stims. Kat objects, Starbuck makes a comment about her previously liking stims and Apollo says their use is personal discretion.
Civilians board Galactica and one sees Kat and approaches her. Calling her Sasha. She corrects him – it would sound like she was a Cylon, except it looks like she does know him. He wonders what would happen if people found out who she really is.
Gaius ‘accidentally’ bumps in D’Anna. He knows her claim as to where she was is a lie. And she has dried goo in her hair. Which happens if you resurrect. He’s saying she’s intentionally killing herself so she will download over and over again.
Kat confronts the civilian, Enzo. He threatens to reveal who she is unless she feeds him. She has no food; none of them do.
Tigh is back in uniform and getting the courage to enter CIC. Adama sees him through the door and smiles. Tigh enters to applause, until he tells everyone to get back to work. The Raptors and civilian ships are ready. They jump and visibility is terrible. Hotdog can’t see his ship. Galactica is venting and Adama orders they jump. The first jump and they lost a ship.
The difficulty in tracking the civilian ships means that this may only be the first lost in the trip. Kat, because of Enzo, starts taking risks. D’Anna explains to Gaius she’s trying to see the faces of the final five Cylons; Gaius wants to know if he’s a Cylon. They also go and see the Hybrid.