"No, no, it's all right," he's quick to say. Gaeta pops the rest of the s'more in his mouth, washes it down with another swallow of coffee, and thinks.

(As he does, one hand absently drifts down to settle on Gogo's head. The bird looks up, a touch startled, then eases closer to his chair.)

"When I first came here," he says, quieter, "we'd just settled on a planet called New Caprica. I'd left the military and joined up with the new political administration that was going to oversee the settlement -- I was named Chief of Staff."