Editing Nothing but the rain

''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'' commander [[William Adama]] and [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilot [[Kara Thrace|Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]] share a greeting on occasion:

:'''Adama:''' What do you hear?
:'''Thrace:''' Nothing but the rain.

This appears to have originated from ''Galactica''{{'|s}} earlier [[Cylon War]]-era commander, as Adama and [[Jaycie McGavin]] lightheartedly mimic the greeting during one of their sexual encounters ([[Razor Flashbacks]], Episode 1).

It is first heard when Adama shares the greeting with Thrace as she jogs through the battlestar's corridors in the hours prior to the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]]'s scheduled [[Galactica Museum|decommissioning]] {{TRS|Miniseries, Night 1}}.

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Later while Starbuck defends {{callsign|Apollo}}'s crippled Viper at the [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage|Ragnar Anchorage]], William Adama uses their greeting over the [[wireless]] to draw Starbuck's attention and call her back to ''Galactica'' before making their escape [[FTL]] jump, with the sounds of debris deflecting off her cockpit adding some resonance to it {{TRS|Miniseries, Night 2}}.

Before making an unauthorized jump to Cylon-occupied Caprica in a [[You Can't Go Home Again|captured Raider]], Thrace tells Adama that she is "bringing home the cat" after he questions her actions {{TRS|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I}}.

In a [[List of Deleted Scenes (RDM)|deleted scene]] for the same episode, Adama again asks Starbuck what she hears when she is jogging through ''Galactica'''s hallways.

Over two years later, before her Viper is lost and she is presumed dead in "[[Maelstrom]]," a distracted Thrace walks past Admiral Adama and President [[Laura Roslin]], oblivious to their presence, when Adama uses their greeting once more to get Thrace's attention. Adama again uses the greeting when he temporarily departs ''Galactica'' to wait for the missing President Roslin in "[[Sine Qua Non]]".

Adama and Thrace exchange the greeting one last time when they say their goodbyes in "[[Daybreak, Part II]]".

== Usage ==

The greeting is generally consistent except for Thrace's last line, an acknowledgment which she tends to improvise:
{{WikiFrakr|What'd'ya hear?}}
:'''Adama:''' Starbuck, what do you hear?
:'''Starbuck:''' Nothing but the rain (sir).
:'''Adama:''' Then grab your gun and bring in the cat.
:'''Starbuck:''' Boom, boom, boom! / Wilco! / Aye-aye, sir!

== Notes ==
* According to a [http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/07/ blog entry] by Ronald D. Moore, the exchange is "a riff on contemporary marching chants or cadences used in the military called 'jodies'." He suggests that it has a deeper meaning for the characters, but he never wrote out the entire chant.
* In "[[Sine Qua Non]]," [[William Adama]] changes his final line slightly to "Then grab your gun and bring the cat in."
* The title of this article, "Nothing but the rain," is a Battlestar Wiki [[BW:TERM|descriptive term]].

* Adama talks about having a farm which sometimes have caterpillar tractors. These tractors are sometimes also used in the military.  I've heard people refer to these tractors as cats so this would make sense as a farming phrase these characters might have adopted as an inside joke.

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