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Five days have passed since the initial Cylon attack, and in those five days, the Cylons have been chasing Galactica and the fleet every step of the way. Every time the fleet makes a “jump” – moves from galaxy to galaxy – there is a 33-minute window before the Cylons reach their location and the fleet has to jump away again. How the Cylons are following them and why it takes 33 minutes to make the follow-up jump are questions no one has the answers to, and all they can do at the moment is keep jumping and hope that they’ll find a way to shake their pursuers.

The stress on everyone is enormous and Dr. Gaius Baltar has begun to retreat to the safe haven of his mind – imagining himself back at his comfortable house, overlooking the water with Number Six at his side. But even this is no picnic as Six is starting to manipulate him and press him to assert himself within the fleet. Shouldn’t he be running things after all? Baltar’s real-world concerns become far worse when he gets wind of a visiting Doctor from another ship who could expose Baltar as a fraud and a traitor.

The Galactica crew’s nerves are equally frayed. No one knows when or if this seemingly endless cycle of jumping every 33 minutes will end. Figure in some severe sleep deprivation and Commander William Adama certainly has his hands full with making sure his crew is ready every 33 minutes for another jump. It helps that Galactica’s team of Fighter Pilots is in able hands – led by son Captain Lee “Apollo” Adama and Lieutenant Kara “Starbuck” Thrace – but they are stretched to their breaking points as well. Furthermore, casualty numbers from the various colonies continue to trickle in and the fleet is faced with the harsh, depressing reality of life after the Cylon apocalypse. President Laura Roslin, who took office only a week earlier, knows they must rebuild a society, despite the staggering death toll and nightmarish conditions.

Meanwhile, back on the planet Caprica, Helo (the co-pilot who volunteered to stay on Caprica so Dr. Baltar could take his seat on the flight back to Galactica in the mini-series) is nearly out of anti-radiation sickness pills and a nuclear winter is setting in across the planet. He walks across the devastated landscape, wondering how long he can survive under these conditions.

The fleet makes another jump but this time the Cylons don’t follow. Why? Commander Adama is informed that one civilian ship, the Olympic Carrier, didn’t arrive with the rest of the fleet. Could it be that ship was carrying a Cylon agent or a tracking device of some kind? When the Olympic Carrier does arrive, the Cylons show up with it, leaving Commander Adama and President Roslin with a difficult decision. Do they welcome the ship back into the fleet, even as they suspect that it could be harboring a Cylon agent, or do they destroy it? President Roslin is reluctant to obliterate the ship and its civilian passengers. But Commander Adama insists there must be a reason it went missing and even more of a reason it came back unscathed (with Cylons on its heels, to boot).

A decision must be reached quickly, as the Olympic Carrier heads for the fleet and refuses to halt. Furthermore, radiation detectors indicate there are nuclear weapons on board. Eventually, President Roslin reluctantly comes around to Commander Adama’s reasoning. She is betted by Dr. Baltar, who has his own reasons for wanting the Olympic Carrier gone.

The order to destroy the Olympic Carrier falls to Apollo and Starbuck. Apollo is tormented by the possibility that innocent passengers might still be aboard but they know what must be done and destroy the ship before it endangers the entire fleet. He and Starbuck return to Galactica and the fleet makes one last jump, and this time, no Cylons follow. A day passes. Then two. Still no sign of the Cylons. Is it because the Olympic Carrier was in fact, carrying a Cylon agent? No one knows. And even if there was a Cylon on board, it doesn’t make the sacrifice any easier on President Roslin and Apollo.

Back on Caprica, Helo finds a guardian angel in Lieutenant Sharon “Boomer” Valerii, his Viper pilot, as she has come back to save him… and just in the nick of time too, with Cylons after him. Yet unbeknownst to Helo, his savior is an imposter, a Cylon agent. The “real” Boomer is back on Galactica. This imposter’s motives are unknown to all… especially to Helo.

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