MONDO EXTRAS

Kendra's story is a repeated summoning: she's constantly showing up at her appointments, showing up for fate, a few seconds late, or wearing the wrong clothes, or too angry to speak. She's being summoned now to the new Commander Adama's offices, so the story can begin. In the hall, she and Kara are nasty with each other. That's how you know Kara will love her by the end. "Lieutenant Kendra Shaw reporting as ordered, sir," she says, refusing to sit even when he asks. "Admiral Cain apparently wasn't big on chairs," he grins. Why would she be? Why sit when you never know who's coming to hurt you next? Why give your body the moment of rest when you know it'll only rebel harder the next time? Why show yourself the luxury of sitting, when you will ask others to stand, and stand, and stand? "Even dead, the woman casts a shadow. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that. ...I've been reviewing the fitreps for the ship's officers and...frankly, you're a puzzle. Top ratings from Cain, clearly thought the world of you. Then a whole series of increasingly negative reports from Fisk, and Garner, who demoted you to kitchen duty for...persistent insubordinate behavior. So, the question is: who are you?"

That's a good question. The problem is that the answer keeps getting smaller and smaller. She used to work for the Ministry of Defense, but her mother's last act was to get her a job as aide to one of the best Admirals in the Fleet. She used to be a daughter, but her mother died. She used to be a girl. Ten months ago, in the pre-"Downloaded" timeframe, she was a girl on Raptor 179er, staring up at Battlestar Pegasus, docked in the Scorpion Fleet shipyards, shining like a beacon. She used to be a girl, growing up planetside, and now she's a woman heading toward one of the greatest ships in the Fleet, about to start the greatest leap in her career.