Battlestar Galactica Season Three, Episode "Maelstrom", Page 3
The scene switches back to the action, where Apollo orders, "Starbuck? You're getting too low! Break off and climb!" Again, Starbuck disobeys protocol and Apollo repeats the order, "I repeat. Starbuck? You're getting too low! Break off and climb!" By now, Starbuck has wandered dangerously close to the planetary hard deck and the storm is tossing her around like a carnival balloon, when Apollo repeats the order, "Starbuck! Pull out, before you have to smash to regain orbit!" Suddenly, Starbuck hallucinates a dark figure standing in a room.
The scene, briefly, switches back to the CIC aboard the Battlestar Galactica, to show the Dredis console and her position on the planet, which is dangerously close to the planetary hard deck. As the admiral looks on, he asks the rhetorical question, "Where the hell is she going? Get out of there." Then we hear Apollo radio with urgency, "Starbuck? Starbuck, come in. Do you read? Starbuck! You're getting too low, break off and climb!" Admiral Adama, says with the same urgency, "Get up!" Then, Apollo radios, "Hotdog!? Do you have a visual on Starbuck!?", but there is no answer. He radios again, "Starbuck!? Do you read? Pull up!!! That is an order, PULL OUT!!!" Finally Starbuck, who is disappointed that she didn't get the Raider, replies, "Apollo. Starbuck. Wilco!!", as she pulls back on the flight stick with all her strength and yells, "Come on!!!", but it may be too late. Everyone holds their breath and there is a long pause, before Apollo sees her ship climb out of the belly of the beast.
The camera zooms in on Starbuck's cockpit, where she is breathing heavy with fearful anxiety, knowing she almost didn't make it.
Maelstrom Recap: Scene 6
As Starbuck returns to the Battlestar Galactica and lands in the hangar bay, Chief Tyrol and crew, immediately check her ship for damage. The first thing that Starbuck does, when she steps off the viper is ask, "Where did I take the hits, chief?" and Chief Tyrol replies, "Looks like nowhere, Captain." Surprised, that there was no sign of being hit, Starbuck shows it with her reply, "What!? I felt the impact. The damn Viper felt like it hit a brick wall." Chief Tyrol is doubtful with his reply, "Well, we can keep checking, but so far ...not a scratch." Unable to accept the fact that the ship was not damaged, she examines the undercarriage herself and is amazed to find just what the Chief described.
Maelstrom Recap: Scene 7
Still onboard the Battlestar Galactica, Starbuck and several other pilots are in the briefing room, going over video footage of her encounter, but there is no Cylon Raider to be seen. A frustrated Starbuck cannot believe her eyes, when she says, "Gods damn it! It's gotta be there. Run it, again." Athena shakes her head and says, "We watched it twice, already.", but Starbuck insists, "Then this isn't my gun camera film!" and Athena replies with a doubtful, "No one else pulled a trigger, all day." Then Helo speaks up, "We checked the Galactica's Dredis records, against the ones on our Raptor. There was no paint on your Cylon, at all." Starbuck is still unwilling to accept there was no Raider, by saying, "And we all know that Dredis can be wonking at this planet crawl." Apollo attempts to reason with her by saying, "Maybe, the Raider jumped away, before you opened fire?" Finally, another pilot boldly says what the others were afraid to, "Or maybe it never existed, to begin with." With that, Starbuck gets to her feet, stares at the video footage and swears to herself, "It was there."
Maelstrom Recap: Scene 8
Still onboard the Battlestar Galactica, Admiral Adama and Apollo are in his quarters discussing Starbuck's phantom encounter, when the admiral asks, "Gonna ground her?" Apollo sighs, before answering, "Cottle says she's physically fit, but an emotional basket case ...in peace time, he 'ld ground us all." The admiral looks at Apollo and says, "So, it falls back on you?" Apollo regretfully replies, "Yeah. Even screwed up, she's still the best Viper driver I've got." The admiral, thoughtfully says, "Some times it's hard to admit, that the best of us can burn out. Do you think she has?" Apollo isn't sure and certainly doesn't want to give up his best pilot, but he leans back on his chair and sighs with his response, "I don't know. I think her indentity, as a steely eyed Viper Jock, is the only thing holding her together. So, then if I ground her ..." There is a brief pause, before the admiral comments, "Everyone gets rattled sometimes, but the bottom line is ...when the bullets start to fly, can she handle it?" Apollo thinks real hard on that question, but only lets out a sigh, because he is still not sure.