CIC. Starbuck has one minute left on the big clock. Gaeta says that "Blue Flight" is low on fuel, and Adama advises sending the tanker to them. Gaeta looks at the clock and hesitates. When Adama prompts him, Gaeta mentions that refueling in the atmosphere is tough because of the turbulence: "I suggest we wait until the clock has run down and then tank them up on the way back." Adama wonders who ordered the ships back. Gaeta says, "I just assumed..." Adama continues the thought: "The search was over. That it was hopeless. That we should write Starbuck off as dead -- is that what you're telling me, Mr. Gaeta?" Gaeta eeps, "No, sir." Throughout this conversation, Adama just watches the clock tick down, never looking at Gaeta. Adama asks what Gaeta is saying. The time on the clock runs out, and a buzzer sounds. Tigh and the rest of the crew look at Adama. Adama says,"You have your orders." Gaeta tetchily marches off, and it's Tigh's turn at bat. He tells Adama that Starbuck's out of oxygen. Adama says that the time on the clock was just a guess. Tigh says, "Her tank only holds so much oxygen." Adama sounds quite reasonable as he says that Starbuck could have been carrying more oxygen in her survival gear. I don't mean that I think he is being reasonable, but he makes it sound less insane. Tigh is not as easy to impress as I am, though. He scoffs, "What, she just happened to pack an extra bottle today?" Tigh says they're putting other people, and more ships, at risk in this search. As Tigh goes on, Adama very calmly and quietly says, "We are not quitting. And you are relieved, Colonel." I was completely shocked by that. And so, I think, is Tigh. But he quickly straightens his posture, salutes, and says, "I stand relieved, sir." And out he goes. The rest of the crew on CIC trade nervous glances. Adama, you'd better find another bottle of whiskey somewhere in the fleet, because jeez.

Starbuck continues to fiddle with the whale entrails as her oxygen gauge reads "empty." She gasps, "You're part biological, right? Which means that you need oxygen, right?" Maybe the Cylons don't need very much oxygen because they don't talk to themselves out loud, Starbuck. It's not just the issue of conserving air, it's also that I think a lot of these survival scenes might have been scarier if they'd been mostly silent. Or, like, a Kubrick thing where we just heard Starbuck's breathing get faster. I do like that her helmet visor is starting to fog over, though. Starbuck yanks another tube apart, and there's a hissing sound. Uh oh, I think she found the cord that releases the giant snakes. Starbuck pulls out another dipstick, opens it, and aims the end of the tube at the rod. The rod turns green as the escaping gas hits it. Starbuck weakly unfastens her helmet and makes some awful wheezing sounds before she manages to pop the tube into her mouth and breathe.