Nothing but the rain

Over the course of their friendship, Galactica's commander William Adama and Viper pilot Kara Thrace have a greeting they share on occasion. The question "What do you hear?", followed by "Nothing but the rain" appears to have originated with Galactica's wartime commander (presumably Commander Nash), as Adama and Jaycie McGavin mock this greeting during one of their sexual encounters (Razor Flashbacks, Episode 1).

Adama greets Thrace with the saying as she jogs through the battlestar's corridors in the hours prior to the battlestar's scheduled decommissioning (Miniseries, Night 1).

Some hours later, while Starbuck zealously defends Lee Adama's crippled Viper from a horde of Raiders at the Ragnar Anchorage, then-Commander Adama breaks Starbuck's fighting trance over wireless communications with their greeting to call her back to the battlestar, which has committed itself to an imminent FTL jump. The debris of destroyed Raiders makes raining noises as they impact Starbuck's Viper (Miniseries, Night 2).

Before making an unauthorized jump to Cylon-occupied Caprica in a captured Raider, Thrace tells Adama that she is "bringing home the cat" after he questions her actions (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I).

In a 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, 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. Soon after that Thrace's Viper is lost and she is presumed dead (Maelstrom). After her mysterious return, Adama uses the greeting again when he temporarily leaves Galactica to search for the missing President Roslin (Sine Qua Non).

Adama and Thrace give the greeting for the last time when they say goodbye to each other in Daybreak, Part 2.

Usage

The greeting is generally consistent except for Thrace's last line, which is an acknowledgment ("Wilco" or "Aye-aye, sir!") that she tends to improvise.

Adama: Starbuck, what do you hear?

Starbuck: Nothing but the rain.

Adama: Then grab your gun and bring in the cat.

Starbuck: Boom, boom, boom!

Notes

• According to a blog entry by Ronald D. Moore, the exchange is an excerpt of a marching chant, which are common in militaries. He suggests that it has a deeper meaning for the characters, but he never wrote out the entire chant.

• "Nothing but the rain" is a Battlestar Wiki descriptive term.