President Laura Roslin finds herself pitted against her old nemesis, Tom Zarek, when she organizes a grand event to announce her choice for Vice President. The situation takes a turn for the worse when Zarek makes a power play to become Vice President himself.

It’s Colonial Day – a holiday celebrating the establishment of the Twelve Colonies – the first one since the Cylon attacks. Laura Roslin believes that upholding traditions will inspire people to embrace the future, but she has another reason as well. With her own health uncertain, she knows she must choose a successor and Colonial Day will be an ideal time to announce her candidate for Vice President.

The celebration is held on the “Cloud Nine,” a luxury ship which offers all of the amenities of a five star hotel – pools, spas, lush gardens, etc. Surviving representatives from each of the 12 colonies are sent to the ship to help elect a Vice-President, though Laura assumes it won’t be much trouble to get her choice, Wallace Gray, pushed through. Dr. Baltar is one of Caprica’s delegates while a familiar face represents Sagittarian: TOM ZAREK. Zarek, the political prisoner from episode three (Bastille Day) , has always proved popular in Sagittarian, even if many see him as a terrorist (even a ‘rehabilitated one.’) Zarek is of course, ready for the limelight and when he arrives to meet and greet the press, he’s all smiles and politically correct sound-bites. Laura immediately knows Zarek could be a big problem.

Cmdr. Adama, who abhors political events, sends Colonel Tigh in his stead. Tigh dreads the socializing, but his wife, Ellen, is elated. Lee (Apollo) and Kara (Starbuck) will also be Galactica’s eyes and ears on the ship, acting as security detail, a much more complicated job with the unpredictable Zarek in the mix.

Zarek arrives with a contingency of (sort of) cleaned-up ex-cons, men he came to trust aboard the Astral Queen. They’ve all paid their debt to society, Zarek included, and are now looking to play a part in the new world order. All the while, we track a Mysterious Man as he observes the proceedings from a distance. We already know he’s planted a gun inside a briefcase and successfully smuggled it on board the Cloud Nine, but we don’t yet know to what end. Is he an assassin sent to kill President Roslin? Is he somehow connected to Tom Zarek?

Laura’s fears are confirmed when Zarek blast’s her VP choice. Zarek’s sentiment strikes a chord with the public, not to mention the very vocal media pundits who see Zarek as a strong leader. Zarek’s carefully calculated ploy ends up snaring him a Vice-President nomination and almost immediately, he proves to be the front-runner.

The Mystery Man’s role begins to become clearer when Lee and Kara wind up in the middle of a bar fight with Zarek’s men. While they eventually gain control of the room, during the chaos, Kara catches a glimpse inside the Mystery Man’s coat. The man, Valance, has a handgun.

Valance is immediately detained and grilled. Lee suspects that Valance is an associate of Zarek’s, which Valance adamantly denies, and that once Zarek win’s the VP seat, Valance will assassinate Laura and Zarek will become president. Laura agrees with Lee, but has no proof…yet. She asks Lee and Kara to release Valance and keep him under close surveillance, but when Lee and Kara go back to Valance’s hotel room, they find that he’s dead. Shot once through the forehead.

Whether or not Zarek assassinates Laura or whether she dies from cancer, she knows that before long, Zarek could be president, something she cannot abide. She urges her initial VP candidate to drop out and instead nominates a flabbergasted Dr. Baltar as her choice. Baltar has the charisma and he’s certainly popular amongst the fleet, not least of all to its ladies, and has ingratiated himself to Laura further when he makes a powerful rebuttal to Zarek’s attack about Laura’s schoolteacher beginnings.

It comes down to one decisive vote, but Baltar wins. Laura holds Tom Zarek off…for now anyway. Laura and Zarek share a knowing look and even though she won this round, she will have to deal with this man again.

The Colonial Day festivities end on the Cloud Nine dance floor as people partner for a final waltz. Lee and Kara, Tigh and Ellen, and Billy and Dualla are already dancing. Laura sits on the sidelines, relishing the spectacle of her people enjoying themselves for the first time since she became president, yet a melancholy loneliness haunts her smile, until a shadow falls over her. “Madame President, may I have this dance,” says a familiar dry voice. She looks up to find Commander Adama standing there in full dress uniform. He decided to pay a surprise visit. Her smile warms. She takes his arm and they join the others.

Much further away on the planet Caprica, Helo and Sharon make their way to the air base at Delphi, hotly pursued by the Cylons. Doral and Number Six express interest in keeping Sharon alive because she may be pregnant, but it’s clear they now regard Helo as expendable.

Helo and Sharon become separated momentarily, then he hears a noise and finds her again. He is relieved to see Sharon and starts toward her, when she draws a pistol and aims it directly at him. Helo’s caught with nowhere to hide -- then, a BLAST! The gun-toting Sharon is shot dead. Helo spins in confusion to see -- his Sharon, a gun smoking in her hand. This is one Sharon too many. Who is she? Who is Sharon? He begins to run away from Sharon, faster than his thoughts can form.

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