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rabid1stMINOTAUR
By Rabid1st
BSG – K/L with some K/A and L/D at the start
Spoilers: To Scar Promo S2.5
Rating: R
Beta Babes: Winter_Queen82, Lilith, Devilbunny, Jei
Summary: Jeepers…intrigue. And also…OMG…Dee? Are you kidding me?
Disclaimer: Have you heard about the big, super-amazing finale to the best season of the best show on television? Apparently, some people were upset by it. I’m not saying those people won’t be equally upset by this fic. Unless they were thinking, “Yes, that’s what S2.5 needed…more babies.” Would Ron Moore give you more babies? I don’t think so. Ron, soooo doesn’t care about you. He also doesn’t care about fanfic. Let them read fic, he said once, like some tv-show producing Marie Antoinette. But I have to write this disclaimer anyway…because of SciFi and R&D and the other stakeholders. Please know I make no money and do this only to share the joy I take in a show that is not mine. I have no rights to these characters and situations…none…at all.
PREVIOUS PARTS
PART ONE
http://rabid1st.livejournal.com/74418.html#cutid1
PART TWO
http://rabid1st.livejournal.com/76225.html#cutid1
PART THREE
http://rabid1st.livejournal.com/77081.html#cutid1
PART FOUR
I’m never going to get used to this, Admiral Bill Adama thought as the cylon ambassador arrived and took a seat at the negotiating table. The Admiral’s gaze strayed to the shuttle’s windows. Beyond them a reassuring phalanx of Vipers swooped and spun, ready to defend the President if need be. There was no sign of a comparable cylon contingent. Adama wondered if that was simple overconfidence or if the ambassador was disposable.
Laura Roslin shifted in the seat next to him. Her fingers closed over his as she leaned in to whisper, “You just can’t get used to it, can you?”
Bill fought down a smile. All those months as his political adversary had given her an abiding insight into his character. She knew him well and could sense his nervous tension. He refocused on the cylon agent seated across from them at the peace table. He recognized it. He’d smashed its head in on Ragnar Anchorage. It was called Conoy then and Leoben the second time he saw it. It was hard to get used to the resurrected dead.
Bill pressed his shoulder into Laura’s and tipped his head until his cheek brushed her chestnut hair, as he replied, “No. Can you?”
“We have excellent hearing,” Leoben remarked. “I mention it out of politeness. You should feel free to speak openly. I will not take offense. We would hardly expect you to trust us under these circumstances. However, we hope to convince you of our mutual need for cooperation.”
Laura let go of Bill’s fingers and sat a bit straighter. She ran both hands over her skirt, smoothing the material while Adama glared at the cylon. Neither of them was comfortable addressing a man they’d ordered executed. Laura wondered if playing on their discomfort was part of the cylon strategy.
“The question remains,” she began with quiet authority, “What’s in it for us?”
“An end to the running. An end to the war. Surely, you don’t like living scattered among the stars.” Leoben made a sweeping gesture with one arm as if sowing the seeds of humanity in a wide arc. “We know of five habitable planets. Planets with abundant water, atmosphere, non-toxic plants and wildlife. We can guide your fleet to such a planet and we will even assist you in rebuilding your civilization.”
“A civilization you destroyed,” Admiral Adama reminded him.
“An outcome we now regret,” Leoben said, his face reflecting sorrow and some frustration.
“Cutting to the crux of our stalemate, then,” Roslin said, “You help us rebuild and in return we make this…” She searched for the right word, “…sacrifice?”
“Tribute,” Leoben corrected. “A gift of peace. Seven males and seven females every five standard years.”
“Our sons and daughters are not for sale,” Bill Adama said, gruffly. Looking at Laura, he shook his head as if there were no further need to negotiate.
“They will not be lost to you. Nor harmed,” Leoben hastily interjected, frowning. “I don’t understand this attitude. There is precedence in human history. Your spiritual books are full of stories about conquered city-states giving their children to the victor.”
“You are talking about the barbarism of slavery,” Laura said, coldly. “No civilized human world practiced slavery. It’s illegal under Colonial Law.”
“You forget,” Leobon corrected, icily. “My ancestors were enslaved by humanity. You gave no more thought to Cylon imprisonment and degradation than you do to your… What is it you call us? Toasters?”
“And what thought did you give for the billions of lives you wiped out on a dozen worlds? On a thousand ships?” Bill snapped.
Leoben started to stand but caught himself, took a deep breath and relaxed back into his seat.
“My apologies. You are right, of course. Barbarism is never one-sided. Let me say this, Madame President, we understand the evils of slavery and have no desire to emulate humanity by adopting it. Our wish is to reeducate. Your sons and daughters will be honored members of our society. Free to choose their partners and live without restriction.”
“As long as they are willing breeders?” Bill growled.
“And forgive me, Mr…?” Laura began not sure if she wanted to refer to him as Leoben.
“Nine,” the cylon said. “I am nine of twelve.”
“Nine? You’re a number?”
“You may refer to me by my number. Or…call me Orish,” he said, tipping his head graciously, “If it makes your more comfortable. I am not a number. I am an individual within a system of numbers. All nines are related but we are not all the same.” He looked at the Admiral. “Just like the Adamas.”
The Admiral’s stern face grew even stormier at the comparison but he dipped his head in acknowledgement of Cylon family names as Laura went on with her thought.
“Mr. Orish, forgive me but we have only your word that our people would be safe in your care. And we have no reason at all to trust you at this point. One of our people, Lieutenant Thrace, was held in a breeding facility on Caprica, a human farm. The horror of her description does not fill me with confidence.”
“This is the reason we brought the Caprica Resistance leaders with us on this mission. They have witnessed the liberation of all previously detained humans. We wished to assure you of our true agenda. All of those facilities have been closed.”
“And the detained women?” Roslin asked. “What became of them?”
“Some subjects, I regret to say, had to be humanely terminated.”
“Killed,” Bill Adama snarled. His trigger finger twitched and his gaze narrowed.
“Believe me it was for the best. Any who could be saved were given medical treatment and released into the care of the Resistance. But many were beyond help. They were warriors. We treated them as humanely as you treated our captives.” He stared pointedly at Roslin, forcing her to recall her order to put him out an air lock. She wondered if he remembered the incident, too. He nodded as if confirming it but went on with his argument. “The salient point I would ask you both to consider is that the farms were an utter failure. No viable children were produced from the thousands of fertilized embryos. We have no reason to continue the project. We have a better model for our new world. Your Lt. Agathon and our Eight.”
“Sharon,” Admiral Adama said.
“Yes, your Sharon,” Orish Nine confirmed. “She has conceived through free breeding. We are astounded by this development. And what it suggests.”
“What does it suggest?”
“That humans and cylons are more alike than we had realized. We must be vigilant lest we make similar mistakes. We have come to understand that the path of war is not the one God wishes for us. This thirteenth cylon. This new human. Could be the first of many and herald a new age. The continued survival of both of our species? What better mission could we have?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dee had planned on letting Lee coax her back to bed but the com buzzed. He kissed her absently, pulling away with no apparent regret, and went to take the call. A sense of dread settled heavily on Dee’s shoulders as she crossed to the sofa. Her silken robe billowed around her ankles as she perched on a cushion with feline grace. Drawing her robe closed and her feet up, she watched Lee warily.
His earlier display of temper had surprised her. She’d never witnessed his loss of control firsthand. Though, she’d heard stories of his anger and experienced it at a distance via the coms. Until today, he’d been unfailingly gentle with her. Something had changed. Her gaze darted the file on the floor but she didn’t linger on it. She needed to know what it contained but there was no need to draw attention to it now.
“Adama,” Lee said into the handset. After listening for a moment, he frowned. “Transmission?” he asked and then, said, “No, try to clean it up. I’ll be right there.”
“Trouble?” Dee asked when he disconnected.
He didn’t answer her immediately but stared into the middle distance for a moment before glancing at her and dismissively saying, “It’s nothing.” Dipping his chin, he avoided eye contact as he strode briskly across to his wardrobe. “But I need to go to CIC.” He traded his rumpled jacket for a new one and checked his reflection in the wardrobe door’s mirror. Combing his fingers through his hair, he said, “I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
Dee wished he would confide in her the way Billy always had but Lee seemed to be nothing but walls and false smiles. He kept her scrambling, unsure of her place. She went to stand behind him, sliding her arms around his waist. “Don’t worry about me,” she said, smiling sweetly up at him. “I need to get back to Galactica. I’m on shift in a few hours. But I’ll bring some of my things over next visit.”
Under her hands, Lee tensed. There was a slight catch in his breath and he stepped back a little, as if he’d already forgotten his invitation. But he recovered quickly, stooping to kiss her.
“Looking forward to it,” he murmured just before their lips met.
The kiss was slow and sweet. When it ended, Dee smoothed her robe over the swell of her breasts. The sweep of her hand caught Lee’s eye, as she’d hoped it would. Pregnancy had its advantages. She’d gone up a cup size in the last week. She hooked her arm in his. Holding his attention, she walked him to the door, careful to angle her body so she stayed between Lee and the folder. He left without giving the file a second thought.
Dee waited by the door until she was sure Lee wasn’t going to come back. Then, she went to his desk and bent to scoop the file from the floor. The papers skidded around, threatening to spill everywhere. Dee tilted her hand to balance them on the way to the desktop. Once she had them over the smooth surface she used her palm to stack the papers like an oversized deck of cards, squaring every sheet back into the folder, before she opened it.
She stared at the first sheet in the file, not certain what she’d been expecting only aware of her vague fears solidifying into an iceberg in her stomach. She read the topmost paper in the file again, unable to believe her bad luck. Kara Thrace was pregnant. Dee wanted to weep. She wanted to throw up. But after a few deep breaths, she managed to regain her composure. Losing her head would gain her nothing. She needed more information. It could be Anders’ baby or Karl Agathon’s. But if the baby was Lee’s…or even if it wasn’t…this could ruin everything.
The last thing Dee needed was Kara fainting into Lee’s arms on the flight deck. And she surely would, given half a chance. Women like Kara Thrace could always be counted on to be inconvenient. This file was proof of that. Why had it been in Lee’s possession? Dee shoved the mental image of Lee cradling Kara aside and flipped through the medical history looking for a date of conception. There was nothing. Kara hadn’t even had an ultrasound, yet.
She paged back to the sheet with the date of Kara’s last cycle. The date was auspicious. She and Lee had been openly involved on that date. Of course, Kara might be lying. Or Lee might be unfaithful. He certainly hadn’t objected to her cheating on Billy. And his earlier outburst of temper looked suspicious in the light of this file. Dee tapped her nails on the desktop. If this had happened two weeks earlier Kara could have, probably would have, aborted, severing any chance of a connection with Lee. She was a viper pilot and hardly the motherly sort. Unfortunately, abortions were now illegal. Dee leaned back in Lee’s chair, thinking about ways to ensure he and Kara stayed apart.
She knew of three ways to arrange a miscarriage. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem likely Kara would come to her for advice. She might still find a way to play the pilot card, convince Kara to transfer off the Pegasus. The second best option was a baby with irrefutable paternity, fathered by Anders. The illusion of paternity could be arranged. Dee had already doctored one set of medical files. A bribed nurse changed her baby’s father and future. Billy’s child became Lee Adama’s with the simple transposition of two numbers. But Lee had already read the contents of Kara’s file. And the date of her last cycle left a small window of opportunity before Anders arrived on the scene. The question was: Had Lee left Dee’s bed and gone to Kara’s? Even once?
Dee was pondering the possibility when the door chimed. She ignored the summons; too upset to deal with anyone. But jumped and nearly screamed a second or two later when the door started to swing open. Who in the name of Hades would feel free to just waltz in to their Commander’s private quarters? The answer hit Dee before her heart rate had time to stabilize. Again, she felt the icy burden in her chest. She rose hastily and moved away from the desk to stand behind the opening door.
“Lee?” Kara Thrace said, edging quietly into the room.
Dee was panicked and panting. Kara was the last person she’d expected or wanted to see. Stress was hammering at her temples. What was it going to take to break the bond between Lee and this woman? Gathering her nerve, Dee stepped forward. She was rewarded by Kara’s full-body twitch of astonishment.
“He’s not here,” she said, coolly.
Just as Kara exclaimed, “Frak!” her hand dropping to the place she usually wore a sidearm.
“And, Gods, you startled me,” Dee declared, stealing the rest of Kara’s indignation, “Just barging in here. What if we’d been…?” She waved a hand toward the sleeping alcove.
“I’m…I…” Kara choked on the first thing she thought of to say because her mind had gone instantly to the image of Lee and Dee locked together on the bed. Her hands started shaking. She knew she couldn’t bear to see that. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
Dee was gratified by Kara’s red-faced confusion. If the Captain had come a half hour earlier… Dee didn’t finish the thought. The only thing worse than enduring the humiliating position Lee had expected of her would be Kara Thrace witnessing it. But she knew better than to show weakness in the face of the enemy. She controlled her expression, schooling it into one of mild bliss.
“I’m moving in,” she said, calmly. Then, she glanced at the still partially open door. “I suppose to we need to get that lock changed.”
“Moving…in?”
Kara’s fingers curled into claws and her eyes narrowed. For one brief moment, Dee could taste victory. The sweet flavor drove out the bitterness of her fears. If only Kara would hit her. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d struck out in anger. She had an unladylike tendency to brawl. And if she reacted that way, then Lee would have no choice but to defend Dee and his unborn child. All it would take would be a call to the medlab, a tremulous concern for the safety of their baby. Dee braced for the blow. But to her surprise, Kara let the anger simmer rather than boil over.
She cocked her head, narrowed gaze sweeping over Dee’s scanty costume. Her upper lip twisted in a disdainful sneer.
“Am I interrupting anything?” she asked, obviously certain she wasn’t.
“Only my sleep,” Dee said, feeling inexplicably whorish.
“I need to see Lee.”
“Like I said,” Dee sighed, clutching her robe closed at the chest, “You’ve just missed him.” She turned toward the desk, biting her bottom lip. How could she approach the subject of Kara’s pregnancy? Her eyes found the file. She smiled tightly and then said, “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Kara had been turning to leave but she paused with one hand on the door. Her brow furrowed. “Congratulations?”
“Lee tells me you and Anders are expecting, too.” Dee dropped a hand to her nearly flat belly. “I hope you’ll be as happy as we are.”
The ashy cast of Kara’s cheeks as her color drained away did nothing to sooth Dee’s troubled mind. “Lee…told you about the baby?”
“Of course,” Dee said, airily. She had to be careful not to let her anxiety show. Taking small, steady steps, she crossed to the desk and picked up Kara’s file. “We don’t keep secrets from one another. As a matter of fact, I assume this is why you came? Lee was going to send it back to the lab with his apologies.”
Dee smiled at Kara. As if, Kara thought, Lee’s forgetfulness was a secret they, like all the other women in Lee’s harem, shared. Kara's nails bit into her palm as she made a fist. She was determined not to join that sorority.
“Lee…? Wanted to…apologize?”
“Yes,” Dee murmured. Her mind was churning like a stream swollen with spring melt. Kara’s incredulity had her searching for something else to say. Unable to think of anything clever, she stood a little taller and repeated herself. “Yes! He asked me to convey his apologies if you happened to stop by before he got back.”
Kara snorted but her expression was ineffable. Dee was thrown off stride, not sure if Kara even believed her. Drawing a deep, steadying breath, pressed on, hoping to trigger some reaction. She stepped within arm’s length of Kara and held out the folder, as if presenting it to her.
“Naturally, I didn’t think you would,” Dee continued, “Stop by, I mean. It’s such a silly reason.” Kara bristled at the insinuation that she’d seize on any excuse to see Lee. But she wanted her file. She eased toward it like a squirrel expecting a nut from a strange hand. Just as her fingers closed on the folder, Dee casually asked, “Is it Lee’s?”
Surprise twitched Kara’s arm and sent her file contents spilling to the floor. Red faced and confused, she bent to retrieve the papers even as she said, “No, Gods…. No! Why would you…?” She started shoving papers into the file. “How could you even ask me that?”
“Please, Kara. I’m not naïve,” Dee said. “I know you have a certain…reputation.”
“Reputation?” Kara stiffened at the word and Dee’s slightly condescending tone. Clutching her paperwork, she straightened out of her jackknife pose. “What reputation?”
Dee crossed her arms over her chest in a protective pose as she rushed out the bitter truth. Even after they’d openly started dating, it had never been her name mixed with Lee’s at the Triad table.
“People talk…other pilots…flight crew…around the card table. They say, you’re a good lay. And I’d have to be deaf and blind not to know about the wagering centered on you and Lee.”
This was news to Kara and it honed her gaze to dagger sharpness. Her jaw clenched as she fought to contain her temper. As she usually did when hurt, she spoke without thinking, lashing out.
“Too bad I didn’t know. I could have cleaned up in the betting pool.”
“There,” Dee breathed. Her knees were shaking and she thought she might faint. But she had her kernal of truth. Kara and Lee had slept together. The only question now was when? Dee took a deep cleansing breath and pulled her shoulders back. Her best strategy was a bluff. “As I said, Lee and I have very few secrets from one another.” Needing to sit, Dee swept by the stunned Kara and headed for the sofa. This would be the hardest part of the game. “It’s good to have everything out in the open. Now,” she patted the cushion next to hers as if inviting Kara to sit, “If your baby is Lee’s we will need to work a few things out between us.”
“Work things…?” Kara gave her head a sharp shake. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“If we leave it to the men, they’ll only fight.” Dee had a flash of inspiration. “Is that what happened today?” Kara stared at her open mouthed but the slight hitch of her shoulders told Dee she’d hit close to the mark. “I assume you are happy with Anders and I am certainly happy with Lee. We’ll be delivering within a month of each other. It will be a stressful time for everyone. Wouldn't it be better to have all of the custody issues settled? I can take maternity leave and I’m not in direct combat line but you have a problem. Motherhood and Vipers don’t mix. Are you going to want to continue flying after the birth?”
Kara’s skin crawled as an intense loathing for the other woman swept over her. She had no desire to discuss her baby or her future with Anastasia Dualla.
“You know what?” she snapped. “That’s none of your business. I’ve already told you. Lee’s not the father. Sam Anders is. When I am ready to talk about my future, I’ll discuss it with him, not Lee and definitely not you. And I didn’t come here to get this file. You can keep it,” she said, spinning the folder toward Lee’s desk.
“I see,” Dee said.
“No, I don’t think you do. I don’t care what happens between you and Lee. I’m through with this ship. I came to ask for a transfer. Since you are so good at sharing everything, why don’t you pass that on?” Kara spat and then, made a practiced turn on her heel and fled. The slam of the hatch gave her only momentary satisfaction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Sit-rep,” Lee snapped as he entered CIC. He was in no mood for trouble but he sensed it coming.
Hoshi handed him the daily log. There was a highlighted section near the middle. Lee paused to read it even as Hoshi explained, “We picked up a coded transmission, sir. Very brief. No way to triangulate an exact location. But it was definitely from inside the Pegasus.”
“How’s the decryption going?” Lee asked, walking with his XO toward the communication station.
“We have the answer but not the question, sir,” Petty Officer Brilla said, looking up at Lee from his nest of computer input panels.
“You’ve broken the code?”
“We have, sir. But some of it still isn’t making sense.”
“Show me,” Lee said.
“This is background noise.” Brilla pointed toward a set of squiggly lines on the screen. Lee knew the jagged sound waves told a story if you had the skill to read them. He watched Brilla jab a few buttons and the noise lines disappeared. “This is the encryption. We apply the translator and…” Brilla twisted a switch. There was a blast of squealing static and then a painfully distorted gargle.
“Run that back,” Lee ordered, signaling to Brilla to play the piece again. He listened intently but finally shook his head. “I can’t make it out.”
“Neither can the computer, sir. Yet. We think it is a question but it might be a single word. Maybe a name. We are expanding the search parameters to include proper names. However, this is the interesting part.” He twirled a dial or two and another set of sound bars appeared on his monitor.
This time when Brilla hit the switch a clear if sexless and emotionally neutral voice came through the speakers.
“Everything is in place,” it declared mechanically.
“Everything is in place?” Lee repeated. He chewed on his lower lip for a minute, considering the meaning behind the phrase. It was both innocuous and ominous. Then, he turned to Hoshi. “How long would it take to check for any inconsistencies in the protocols prior to this message?”
“How far back, sir?”
“Let’s say the last three sleep cycles.”
Hoshi grimaced. “Quite a long time, sir, the rest of this shift, probably well into the next one. Do you want us to check everything? Docking to Donuts?”
“No,” Lee said after a moment’s reflection. “Check the secure areas. Look for anything out of place. That won’t take as long.”
“Yes, sir,” Hoshi said. Saluting, he turned to give the various orders necessary to carry out Lee’s command.
With nothing further to do, Lee checked through the assorted reports in need of his signature. He made a note or two, autographed a few dotted lines and then left CIC to prowl the nearby corridors. He wandered as far as the officer’s mess. Pouring a cup of the witch’s brew the kitchen staff was passing off as coffee, he considered checking on Kara. But the thought of her triggered the familiar dull ache under his ribs and he grabbed a fistful of crackers before remembering Dr. Irisi’s warning about eating instead of feeling. No substituting, she’d warned. No booze. No food. No violence. He was already down two out of three since his last session. Regretfully, he let the crackers spill back into their bowl.
Straddling a chair back, he leaned his elbows heavily on it while he sipped his beverage. Every day the ‘coffee’ had a new flavor. Today, it tasted peanut-based. Lee grimaced and added a few squeezes of honey; glad the bee colonies on Cloud 9 were so well adapted to space travel. He stirred the honey in until it melted away. Once his drink was palatable, Lee let his mind dwell on Kara, again. This time, when the ache started, he tried to isolate what he was feeling.
But it was hard to isolate one emotion from the chaotic swirl in his mind. He settled on loneliness but there was also fear, anger and a vague sort of sadness that was closer to boredom than despair. And all of his emotions seemed connected in one way or another to Kara. The threads of his life and hers were as interlaced and sticky as a spider’s web.
Sometimes it seemed as if every part of him intersected with her. His brother was hers. His father was hers. His job…hers. She’d helped him win his ship. Given him a future. His career soared with her as his wingman. And she was his best friend. Or at least he still thought of her that way. Maybe she wasn’t his friend anymore. He tried to mentally sever the ‘best friend’ strand but found as he traced along it, that it supported too much of the web. Cutting away Kara would leave a gapping hole in his identity.
She was his CAG. Lee paused, cup halfway to his mouth. He hadn’t even considered the flying. Surely, Kara didn’t intend to continue as CAG. The new law wouldn’t allow her to endanger her unborn child. He wouldn’t allow it. He thought about her scheduled CAP. Setting his cup down with a bang, he crossed to the nearest com unit and picked up the handset.
“Traffic control,” an overly perky voice sang on the line, “Lieutenant Caprizi speaking.”
“This is Commander Adama. Is Captain Thrace scheduled to fly CAP today?”
“Let’s just take a look-see.” Lee heard the rattle of a clipboard and the rustling of pages. “Yes, sir. We have her on the next rotation.”
“Take her off it. Put Stinger on.”
“Done and done, sir. Shall I notify Captain Thrace of the change?”
“No, I’ll take care of that. Call Stinger, though, let him eat and shower. Thank you.” He broke the connection but held on to the handset. After a moment’s indecision, he dialed CIC, figuring he would save Kara for his last call. When Hoshi answered the com, Lee asked, “How’s that search coming?”
“Nothing yet, sir. We do have a translation on that word. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“What have you got?”
“Minotaur, sir,” Hoshi said.
“Minotaur?”
“Yes, sir. Like the labyrinth. And sir?”
“Yes, Hoshi.”
“We did find an early anomaly. I don’t see how it could matter. And I assume you are already aware…but…the computer is reading Captain Thrace in two different locations.”
“One of them is Anders. Kara gave him her tag as a memento,” Even as the explanation left Lee’s lips he realized what it meant on a more sinister level. Anders would have access to every secure area of the ship. “Where the frak is he?”
“Either in a supply closet off the flight deck, sir, or in munitions.”
“I need Marines,” Lee said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kara stormed away from Lee’s quarters with her head in a fog and no particular direction in mind. Her only desire was to put as much distance as possible between her and ‘that woman.’ She wasn’t ready to face Sam. She certainly wasn’t ready to fly. Her hands were shaking and her stomach seemed to be full of gnawing beetles. She was angry enough to be reckless but her anger refused to solidify into the kind of pointed fury she could wield as a weapon. Instead, it crawled around under her skin, making her twitch.
Unable to shake the relentless jittering, she considered retracing her steps and having it out with Dee in a furniture-breaking catfight. It would serve Lee Adama right to lose a few knick-knacks. But Kara knew the transient pleasure wouldn’t be worth the time she would spend in the brig. And besides, Dee was pregnant. Pregnant, Kara thought, like me. No more barroom brawls.
She jammed her hands in her pockets and tried not to think about the trembling. But the crawling sensation didn’t abate. It climbed up her arms and spread into her chest. Her breathing started catching in gasps. Head down, jaw clenched, she kept walking as the corridor blurred before her. A single teardrop tickled the end of her nose and she realized with a kind of sinking horror that she was crying.
Her mother had always punished tears, giving her ‘something to cry about.' Habits learned early made Kara unconsciously rake her hands through her hair, protecting her head from a ghostly blow. Her childhood shyness surfaced, demanding she find a convenient hiding place. She blinked the moisture from her eyes so she could scan her surroundings. She was in the forward storage holds. It was easy to locate a supply office. A quick sweep of her tags gave her entrance and she noted that, as expected, the tiny room was unoccupied. The Pegasus had only a third of her crew.
She slumped over to the bare desk and sat down, dropping head onto her folded arms.
Kara wept until she was gasping for air, until her bubbling nose became an embarrassment. It sent her searching through drawers for a rag or tissue. She found nothing helpful. Cursing, she extended the search to the boxes of supplies. After some scurrying around, she found toilet paper and pried open a case. As she wiped her face and blew her nose, Kara tried to come to grips with her overreaction. It was completely irrational.
Why did Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla make her feel like she was eight again? Admiral Cain’s steely glare hadn’t reduced her to blubbering. Lee Adama could bellow in her face without making her shiver. She could even stand up to his father on most days and Tigh was a cakewalk. Kara didn’t understand it. But every time she thought about Dee lately she felt sick and weepy and impotently furious. It had to be the baby. Hers or maybe Dee’s. These jagged mixed up emotions had to be hormone related. Though, they’d started the same day Dee had announced her pregnancy.
Something had flipped inside Kara that day. Prior to the announcement she had regarded Lee’s lukewarm romance with a pitying indulgence. But as soon as she heard about his impending fatherhood her hands had started shaking. And the uncharacteristic tremor returned whenever she got within twenty feet of Dualla. Kara tried to reason the twitching away. She had no cause to fear Dee or even dislike her. Dee was nobody, a non-com…an ornament. She was the sort of woman Kara had always held in contempt. Lee collected them like other people collected fancy china. Pre-war, Kara had teased him mercilessly about the women he picked up or picked out. None of them were in her league and she knew it. She had rank and skill. She could go toe-to-toe, nose-to-nose with any man in the fleet. And she could out shoot, out frak and out soldier Anastasia Dualla any day. Dee had nothing Kara wanted, needed or envied.
Except Lee, a tiny voice whispered in Kara’s ear. She spat a mental obscenity at it.
She didn’t want Lee. Lee was an arrogant asshole with a hair-trigger temper. And he’d shared her secret; their secret…even if he didn’t know it was theirs, with that…woman. Kara gave her head a hard shake. No, she didn’t want Lee Adama. Or his baby. What the frak was she going to do about his baby? No wonder she was holed up, crying like some homesick nugget. It was the hormones.
She’d turned her back on Lee a long time ago. But choosing Zak had done her no good. Choosing to fly with his father, hadn’t spared her either. Lee kept stepping in front of her, tripping her up. He’d survived the end of the frakking worlds just so he could be there with his unaltered seed at the worst possible moment. He’d screwed up her life, when it had finally started to make sense. She'd had a chance to be happy. She’d been happy with Sam. Sam respected her. He loved her for who she was. She was Sam Anders hero. Not some frakked up, foul-mouthed problem he had to deal with.
There was only one thing to do to be finally, totally, free of Lee Adama. She had to get off of his ship and get rid of his baby. Mind made up, Kara reached for the com unit above the desk and paged Flight Control.
“This is Captain Thrace. How soon can I clear a Raptor to Galactica?” she asked when the cheerful Caprizi picked up the line.
“I’ve got one I can have ready in twenty minutes. Number 618. Who’s your pilot?”
“I’m flying. Stinger can take my place on CAP.”
“Commander Adama already told me.”
“Told you what?” Kara asked with mild curiosity.
She was slightly distracted by a peculiar echoing in the walls. The desk was vibrating under her hand and against her knee. She cocked her head to listen to the strange thrumming noise. It sounded like some huge machine coming to life and it was growing louder.
“That Stinger was flying CAP,” Caprizi sang in her ear. “Commander Adama cancelled your rotation about ten minutes ago.”
“Cancelled it?” The news snapped her full attention back to her call. “Why the hell would he…” But she already knew. Lee Adama was getting in her way again. The son of a bitch was grounding her. Kara’s urge to weep evaporated, replaced in an instant by the urge to kill. “Fire that Raptor up, I’m on my way.”
The sound beyond the office intensified, nearly drowning out Caprizi’s response. Kara tucked the com receiver into the crook of her neck and slid a hand over the mouthpiece as the nondescript noise became identifiable as running footsteps. Within seconds the booted feet arrived at her door and stopped. Forgetting her anger, she faced the entrance, unconsciously bracing for an invasion.
The invaders didn’t bother knocking. They keyed in a code and the door was wrenched open with enough force to send it banging into the outer wall. Lee Adama entered the room. A handful of Marines crowded over the threshold behind him. Lee’s eyes swept past Kara and then came back to settle on her. He gave her a cold appraisal before turning to address his followers.
“It’s munitions,” he barked, pointing, and the Marines pivoted as one to thud away.
Lee didn’t follow them. Instead, he slowly turned to face Kara, again. She watched him warily, ignoring Lt. Caprizi's distant yodelling for her attention. Lee had a coiled purpose about him. When he moved, he closed the distance between them in a few quick strides. Removing the com from her surprisingly unresisting fingers, he smacked the wall unit and cleared the line for his own call, without apologizing to the flight tech he’d rudely cut off. Kara was too stunned to object.
“This is Lee Adama,” he said into the phone when whomever he was paging picked up. “It’s Munitions. Secure him. I’ll be right there.” As he replaced the com handset in its cradle, he drew in an audible breath. He didn’t glance at Kara as he asked, “Where’s your man?”
“My…man?” Kara choked a little on the outdated concept, almost laughing. Despite Lee’s serious demeanor and her own foul temper the phrase struck her as funny. “You mean Sam?”
“Yes, Sam. Anders.” Still staring straight ahead, Lee ground out the name. “Do you know where he is, right now?”
“I haven’t fitted him for a tracking collar, yet,” Kara said, losing the smidgeon of control she had left. “Maybe I should ask Dee where she got yours.”
A dark blue spark flashed in Lee’s eyes and he winced as if from a stinging slap. But to Kara’s surprise, he seemed reluctant to meet her gaze. His line of sight slid by her right ear. He was staring beyond her as he stepped into her personal space. Seizing her arm, he started dragging her toward the door. The rough handling triggered her simmering need for a fight. She punched her free hand into his shoulder and wrenched back, trying to free herself.
“He’s in Munitions,” Lee was saying. “Where he’s got no legitimate business. He’s been using your tags to access secure areas. The question is: what do you know about that?”
“What?” Kara shook her head and said it again, “What? That’s insane. He was going to meet a friend. Pay off a debt. Why would he be in Munitions?”
“I was hoping you could tell me,” Lee said as he tried to maneuver the uncooperative Kara around stacks of bundled supplies without looking at her. “Since you can’t. I’m going to assume he’s a spy. Maybe even a saboteur.”
They’d reached the doorway. Kara braced her hands and one foot against the frame, slamming Lee to a halt. “Are you completely out of your mind?” she snarled. “Sam, my Sam, isn’t a spy.”
“How do you know that?” Lee countered, speaking in a guarded hiss. “He’s just another guy you picked up…the way you always pick up guys. A has been athlete you found hiding under some rock on a dead world. You don’t know anything about him. For all you know he’s a…” For the first time, he made eye contact, staring down into Kara’s upturned face. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her lashes damp. He faltered in his fiery speech as the sticky tracks of her recently shed tears caught the light. Chilled, he spoke without thinking. “You’ve been crying,” he said. Concern made it sound more like an accusation than he'd intended.
It was Kara's turn to avoid eye contact. She had no intention of discussing her fragile emotional state with Lee. He would only mock her or blame Sam or start ordering her around. She glanced down, grinding her teeth in frustration as she tried to pry his fingers from her elbow.
“Kara?” Lee’s free hand touched her cheek in a feather light caress. “Did he hurt you?”
“Did he hurt me?” She huffed, indignation bring her chin up. Her gaze caught Lee’s and carried it back down to his hand, wrapped tightly around her bare arm. It took him a moment to register the pinched-white skin where his fingers were digging into her flesh. There were red marks, now. There would be bruises, later. “Sam doesn’t throw his weight around like some people,” Kara said.
Appalled, Lee jerked his hand back, releasing her. “I’m…I…”
“I know,” she sighed, completely fed up with him. “You’re sorry. You’re always sorry when it’s too late to fix anything.” She could see his apology struggling to make its way from his eyes to his lips but she didn’t care to hear it. Massaging feeling back into her arm, she shoved by him, intent on getting to Sam before Lee’s goon squad manhandled him.
“That’s not fair, Kara,” Lee said, falling into step beside her.
He didn’t mistreat women. Abuse women. That wasn’t part of who he was. But then, when he considered it, Kara was more like a part of him. She certainly didn't belong in the same category as Dee or Gianne. And Lee knew how hard he could be on himself. Was he really that hard on her, too?
“Fair? Now, you want fair? This thing with Sam? Are you being fair? No! This is just like you,” she declared. “Arrogant and judgmental. Always jumping to the wrong conclusion about everyone.”
“I’m not wrong about this,” Lee argued, fighting for patience. He'd become suddenly mindful of his temper. “Maybe I’m wrong about other things. Maybe a lot of things…but not this. He’s using you.” After a moment, he softly added, “And we can’t all be children, Kara. Some of us have to be grown-ups.”
Kara’s blood froze. She couldn’t believe his nerve. She braked sharply and spun to face him but the barrage of angry words melted on her tongue as she realized there was nothing she could say that would make one bit of difference. Lee couldn't hear her. And this, she understood all at once, was why it had never worked out between them. Why even the baby she carried couldn’t make it work. Lee didn’t respect her. He thought of her as a child, not a woman. To him she was a poorly trained brat, constantly bucking authority. Someone he needed to school and discipline and pick up after.
Sam Anders was different. He saw her potential. He didn’t overreact or try to control her. Most of all, she didn’t embarrass him. They were alike, street kids, scrappers. Like her, Sam had an abundance of charm and an easy sensuality. With a sad shake of her head, Kara turned her back on Lee and everything he’d meant to her and stalked away.
He stood watching her move off, confused and oddly forlorn. He hadn’t been expecting her to look so disappointed, to simply walk away. After a moment or two, he followed. They navigated the halls to Munitions in stewing silence. Both of them preoccupied with their own ruminations.
They arrived to find Anders already in custody. He was kneeling on the floor, fingers laced together on top of his head. Kara rushed toward him but his guard blocked her way with crossed weapons. She shot a fuming glare at Lee and he capitulated. A bob of his chin gave her tacit permission to comfort Anders. The guards parted to let her pass. Kara maneuvered through the circle of Marines, getting as close to Anders as they would allow. Sam was staring at the wall but cut his gaze toward Kara as she knelt near him.
“Hi, honey,” he said, cheerfully.
Kara stared at him with so much intensity her eyes almost crossed. But she pitched her voice at concerned murmur as she asked, “What the hell’s going on, Sam?”
“Damned if I know,” he said, shrugging. “Apparently, I’m not allowed in that room.” He used an elbow to indicate the Munitions Storage.
“There’s a sign,” Lee groused, barging into the middle of their conversation. He raised one brow and stabbed a finger at the painted warning on the wall by the door. “Just like the last time. A bright, orange security warning?”
Sam Anders’ craned his neck to stare. After looking, he gruffly acknowledged Lee’s point. “Yeah, okay, I saw it but…”
“But?” Lee encouraged. “You thought it didn’t apply to you?”
Sam shot Kara a ‘how do you put up with this guy’ look and then sighed and said, “Alright, guilty. I don’t read signs. But look…is Lloyd going to get in trouble over this? Because it really is all my fault.” He stared steadily at Kara. “I had to come down here because Lloyd was pulling a double shift.”
Lee frowned down at Anders for a long moment and then swiveled his head around and cocked a curious brow at the nearest Marine. “Who the hell is Lloyd?”
“Petty officer, second class, Lloyd Pjilianus, sir,” The Marine stood aside to give Lee a clear view of a stoop-shouldered, nearly bald man dressed in fatigues. “The Munitions’ ordinance officer.”
P.O.2 Lloyd Pjilianus was one of Admiral Cain’s conscripted civilians. Lee could tell at a glance. Their uniforms never fit right. They stumbled over protocols and procedures. They had that civilian slouch. Lloyd’s shoes were scuffed. His sunken chest and lack of hair made him seem much older than he probably was.
“It seems, sir,” the Marine was saying, “that he gave Anders access into the secured area.”
“He…gave…him access?” Lee said, weighing each word against his disbelief. “To Munitions?”
Despite Lee’s irritation, a dismayed smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he wrapped his mind around this concept. He cast a brief appeal over his shoulder, hoping to catch Kara’s eye and share his justifiable exasperation. In the past, when the irony of post-apocalyptic life became too much for Lee, he’d always found respite in Kara’s sense of the absurd. She had a way of laughing off frustration. It was a talent he often wished he had. Kara’s carefree nature was like a cool breeze on a hot day. It could calm him, even in the middle of a firefight. He missed her smile.
Now, seeing his appeal, she frowned, folding her arms and clenching her jaw belligerently. Lee sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. As usual these days, he was on his own. He stalked into Munitions, halting within a foot of Petty Officer Pjilianus’ nose.
“You let a civilian into a secured area, Pjilianus?”
“I…yes, sir.”
“Why?”
“It was my fault,” Anders called. “I owed him. Came to pay up. He fronted me a stake at triad last time I was onboard. I was settling the debt. Gave him an autographed pyramid ball.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Lee yelled back.
“For my son,” Pjilianus murmured, “Lloyd, Jr.? He’s in officer’s training on Galactica?” There was undisguised pride in his voice as he continued. “He’s only sixteen but he’s always been brilliant with FTL calculations. Commander Cain let him come aboard but we had to leave his mother behind when the…” His eyes turned glassy as he cleared his throat, unable to complete the thought. Lee felt a pang of pity for the man’s loss. “He’s been depressed. I thought…maybe a gift…?”
And this, Lee reflected was why it was lonely at the top. As commander, he was father and mother and religious counselor to the crew. He couldn’t lash out indiscriminately. Every word and action had to be weighed with care. Lee dealt with people like Lloyd and Anders everyday, people with no idea about military structure or procedure. Sadly, he couldn’t keel haul anyone. Nobody understood the sheer force of will it took not to lose control when faced with complete incompetence. Not even Dr. Irisi fully appreciated how much of his inner dialog went unspoken. The stress of command wore on him. Puffing out a pent breath, he did a slow count to twenty.
When he was sure he wouldn’t take anyone’s head off, he asked Pjilianus, “Was Samuel Anders ever alone in here?”
“Of course, I wasn’t alone,” Anders said. “I was with Lloyd.”
“Petty Officer?” Lee prompted, staring pointedly at Pjilianus.
“No, sir. I…I don’t think so, sir.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I don’t…I’m not sure, sir. I know I never left my post but I wasn’t always looking at him.”
“I want this room searched,” Lee said, turning to the nearest Marine. He glanced at Lloyd. “Do you have an inventory? Could you tell if anything were missing?”
“Yes, sir. I can get that, sir. But a full inventory will take some time.”
“You have time. You’re not leaving until it’s done. Get started.”
“Lee,” Kara motioned him to her, even as she walked toward him. She spoke with a softer tone than she’d used in weeks. “Think about this. Your Marines have Sam right there.” She pointed. “He couldn’t have taken anything. Where would he put it?”
Lee glanced at the Marine sergeant, a burly man with closely cropped blond hair and the wide-set, almond-shaped eyes of a Troyan. “Did you search him?”
“Yes, sir. Nothing. Empty pockets except for this.” The sergeant flashed Kara’s tag. Lee signaled for a toss, hand raised, palm out and was obliged. As Lee caught the tag and its key ring holder from the air, the Sergeant nodded toward a black duffle. “He was carrying that, sir. Nothing remarkable inside. Dirty clothes. Pyramid equipment, elbow pads…gloves.”
“So, he didn’t get whatever he was after. Or…” Lee drew the word out, considering as he glanced toward the Munitions storeroom, “He brought something with him.”
“Or you’ve misjudged him,” Kara said, resting a hand on Lee’s upper arm, “Again.” She used a cajoling tone as if hoping to persuade a child that the moon wasn’t for sale. Her body radiated soothing heat. “He was doing a favor for a crewman. Why would he want to sabotage a ship he’s almost living on? In the middle of a peace conference he’s promoting?”
Lee was staring at her hand, tracing the delicate curve of her fingers. When he lifted his gaze, it intersected hers. She caught him in her web. The need to kiss her, to hold her face between his hands and feel her lips part for his probing tongue, nearly prevailed over his righteous anger. The world, the corridor and the gathered Marines faded into so much background music. There was only Kara. As he shifted closer to her, he thought briefly of Dee. His heart sheered away from the thought. It made him feel sick inside. He didn’t want Dee.
But a small part of his mind knew she needed him in a way Kara never would. Kara didn’t need him. Didn’t want him, she was using him to help Anders. Remembering Sam slapped him back into reality.
“When I want your opinion, Captain,” he said, caustically, jerking his arm from her grasp. “I’ll ask for it.”
Hurt warred briefly with fury in Kara’s expression as she edged into his personal space, standing toe-to-toe with him. “You want to fight?” she breathed for his ears only. Her eyes searched his. ‘Or frak,’ her body language said, just loud enough for Lee to wince when she said, “Because all I want is Sam.”
“Sam is going to the brig,” Lee said, coolly. He stepped away from Kara and signaled the sergeant to carry out his order.
The sergeant, a man of few words, pointed to two of his Marines and cocked a thumb toward hack. Having heard Lee’s order, the men immediately responded to the gesture. They snapped off brisk salutes and then, using their rifle muzzles, prodded Sam to his feet. Kara did a little hopping dance of frustration, swaying first toward her lover and then toward Lee.
She was furious at both of them. Sam should never have been in the restricted area. But he had a good explanation for his mistake. And there was a witness in his defense. Lee was being ridiculous. Did he hate Sam…or her that much? Was the Pegasus driving him as mad as it had driven every other commander? When had her best friend turned into this cold, stiff stranger? Finally, as Anders and his guards started marching away, Kara faced Lee, stood at attention and saluted.
“Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Denied. Sam is going to the brig,” Lee repeated. He glanced at his watch. “And you are going back to your quarters. I’ll see you there when I’m done here. We’ll discuss your future.” He made it sound like she didn’t have one.
“Lee?” she pleaded.
“Dismissed.”
Kara’s dark eyes swirled with a maelstrom of emotion. Lee saw her nostrils flaring as her temper struggled to escape the firm, hard line of her compressed lips. He knew that look. It almost always heralded trouble. She shifted closer, scooping him up like a fish into the net of her willfulness.
Here we go, he thought, certain she would throw a punch. He’d have to toss her ass in the brig but if they could get the disappointment out in the open, maybe they could start talking again. But Kara wasn’t ready to talk. She drew into herself, slamming the door of shared understanding in his face and pivoted on her heel to follow Sam Anders and his guards. Lee watched her go with a breaking heart.
“There’s a call for you, sir,” the Sergeant said a few seconds later.
Lee shook off his melancholy and went to the wall-mounted intercom. “Adama,” he said.
“Sir, we have a problem,” Hoshi declared. “There’s some kind of virus in the system. It’s targeting life support. We’ve had excess oxygen reported on two decks already.”
“Excess?”
“Yes, sir. Not a lethal dose but enough to incapacitate the crew. People are passing out. The problem seems to be an override command from Auxiliary Control.”
Lee flashed to a memory of Colonel Tigh telling him about a cylon plan to infiltrate a Battlestar. “Someone’s using our own life support system against us?”
“Yes, sir. It could hit CIC any time. Take us all out. I’ve sent a team of technicians to Auxilliary Control already, but you are only five decks away. I thought you might be able to use your command codes, sir. Head off whatever is happening.”
“I’m on my way,” Lee said. “Contact me on…” He covered the mouthpiece for a second and thrust his hand at the Sergeant. “I’ll need your mobile com link.” When the Sergeant handed his link over, Lee read the com’s identity number off to Hoshi and then cut the CIC connection. Addressing the Sergeant again he said, “Finish the search here. Every nook and niche. And send a few more men after Anders. Make damned sure he gets to hack.”
“Yes, sir,” the Sergeant said, saluting.
After returning the salute, Lee shot a brief glance along the corridor Anders and Kara had taken. He wrestled for a second or two with a strong urge to follow them. He was convinced Anders was behind everything. But he had no evidence, just a gut feeling. And maybe Kara was right. Maybe his gut had rushed to judgment. Maybe all Sam Anders had done was steal Kara away from him.
Lee shrugged off his doubts. He had more pressing duties. His ship was under seige. He tucked the com link in his pocket and, turning his back on his personal problems, sprinted for the nearest deck ladder. He’d climbed only three of the five levels down when the com beeped. He hopped to the landing and answered it, expecting Hoshi with more bad news.
“Adama.”
“This is Lt. Randine. Sergeant? Is that you?”
“This is Commander Adama, I’ve got the Sergeant’s com link. Go ahead.”
“Oh, sir, I’m sorry to tell you, sir, but Anders got away from us.”
“He escaped?”
“Yes, sir. Captain Thrace…abetted, sir. She took us by surprise. Got a weapon and…”
“Kara?” Lee didn’t believe it. He knew she was pissed about his order but to stage a prison break she’d have to be desperate. Or, he thought, bitterly, she’s completely convinced that you are unfit to command. Both prospects left him shivering with apprehension. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, sir. As we passed the flight deck, Anders started resisting. I got the drop on him but Captain Thrace… Well, we she came up on us fast and we weren’t expecting trouble from her, sir.”
But I should have been, Lee thought.
“…and then, she cold cocked me, sir, knocked me out. Got Jake, too. I was down maybe twenty seconds. But that was all she needed. She’s tucked us into a closet, here, sir.” Lee could hear the metallic echo through the com link as the distant Lieutenant tapped his gun barrel on a pressure door. “Sealed us in on her authority.”
“Frak,” Lee muttered. Gods, he was going to kick her ass. As soon as this current crisis was under control he was going to hunt her down and kick her ass.
“Sir, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Lieutenant. I’ll have CIC let you out. And more men are on the way. Get them organized. Check with flight control. Kara will want a way off Pegasus. She’d need a Raptor, at least. Something pressurized. Follow her if you can. I’m heading to Auxiliary Control. Beep me if you learn anything.” Lee was about to sign off when he remembered. “Oh…and Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Captain Thrace is pregnant. Do your best not to...shoot her or anything…okay?”
END THIS PART
By Rabid1st
BSG – K/L with some K/A and L/D at the start
Spoilers: To Scar Promo S2.5
Rating: R
Beta Babes: Winter_Queen82, Lilith, Devilbunny, Jei
Summary: Jeepers…intrigue. And also…OMG…Dee? Are you kidding me?
Disclaimer: Have you heard about the big, super-amazing finale to the best season of the best show on television? Apparently, some people were upset by it. I’m not saying those people won’t be equally upset by this fic. Unless they were thinking, “Yes, that’s what S2.5 needed…more babies.” Would Ron Moore give you more babies? I don’t think so. Ron, soooo doesn’t care about you. He also doesn’t care about fanfic. Let them read fic, he said once, like some tv-show producing Marie Antoinette. But I have to write this disclaimer anyway…because of SciFi and R&D and the other stakeholders. Please know I make no money and do this only to share the joy I take in a show that is not mine. I have no rights to these characters and situations…none…at all.
PREVIOUS PARTS
PART ONE
http://rabid1st.livejournal.com/74418.html#cutid1
PART TWO
http://rabid1st.livejournal.com/76225.html#cutid1
PART THREE
http://rabid1st.livejournal.com/77081.html#cutid1
PART FOUR
I’m never going to get used to this, Admiral Bill Adama thought as the cylon ambassador arrived and took a seat at the negotiating table. The Admiral’s gaze strayed to the shuttle’s windows. Beyond them a reassuring phalanx of Vipers swooped and spun, ready to defend the President if need be. There was no sign of a comparable cylon contingent. Adama wondered if that was simple overconfidence or if the ambassador was disposable.
Laura Roslin shifted in the seat next to him. Her fingers closed over his as she leaned in to whisper, “You just can’t get used to it, can you?”
Bill fought down a smile. All those months as his political adversary had given her an abiding insight into his character. She knew him well and could sense his nervous tension. He refocused on the cylon agent seated across from them at the peace table. He recognized it. He’d smashed its head in on Ragnar Anchorage. It was called Conoy then and Leoben the second time he saw it. It was hard to get used to the resurrected dead.
Bill pressed his shoulder into Laura’s and tipped his head until his cheek brushed her chestnut hair, as he replied, “No. Can you?”
“We have excellent hearing,” Leoben remarked. “I mention it out of politeness. You should feel free to speak openly. I will not take offense. We would hardly expect you to trust us under these circumstances. However, we hope to convince you of our mutual need for cooperation.”
Laura let go of Bill’s fingers and sat a bit straighter. She ran both hands over her skirt, smoothing the material while Adama glared at the cylon. Neither of them was comfortable addressing a man they’d ordered executed. Laura wondered if playing on their discomfort was part of the cylon strategy.
“The question remains,” she began with quiet authority, “What’s in it for us?”
“An end to the running. An end to the war. Surely, you don’t like living scattered among the stars.” Leoben made a sweeping gesture with one arm as if sowing the seeds of humanity in a wide arc. “We know of five habitable planets. Planets with abundant water, atmosphere, non-toxic plants and wildlife. We can guide your fleet to such a planet and we will even assist you in rebuilding your civilization.”
“A civilization you destroyed,” Admiral Adama reminded him.
“An outcome we now regret,” Leoben said, his face reflecting sorrow and some frustration.
“Cutting to the crux of our stalemate, then,” Roslin said, “You help us rebuild and in return we make this…” She searched for the right word, “…sacrifice?”
“Tribute,” Leoben corrected. “A gift of peace. Seven males and seven females every five standard years.”
“Our sons and daughters are not for sale,” Bill Adama said, gruffly. Looking at Laura, he shook his head as if there were no further need to negotiate.
“They will not be lost to you. Nor harmed,” Leoben hastily interjected, frowning. “I don’t understand this attitude. There is precedence in human history. Your spiritual books are full of stories about conquered city-states giving their children to the victor.”
“You are talking about the barbarism of slavery,” Laura said, coldly. “No civilized human world practiced slavery. It’s illegal under Colonial Law.”
“You forget,” Leobon corrected, icily. “My ancestors were enslaved by humanity. You gave no more thought to Cylon imprisonment and degradation than you do to your… What is it you call us? Toasters?”
“And what thought did you give for the billions of lives you wiped out on a dozen worlds? On a thousand ships?” Bill snapped.
Leoben started to stand but caught himself, took a deep breath and relaxed back into his seat.
“My apologies. You are right, of course. Barbarism is never one-sided. Let me say this, Madame President, we understand the evils of slavery and have no desire to emulate humanity by adopting it. Our wish is to reeducate. Your sons and daughters will be honored members of our society. Free to choose their partners and live without restriction.”
“As long as they are willing breeders?” Bill growled.
“And forgive me, Mr…?” Laura began not sure if she wanted to refer to him as Leoben.
“Nine,” the cylon said. “I am nine of twelve.”
“Nine? You’re a number?”
“You may refer to me by my number. Or…call me Orish,” he said, tipping his head graciously, “If it makes your more comfortable. I am not a number. I am an individual within a system of numbers. All nines are related but we are not all the same.” He looked at the Admiral. “Just like the Adamas.”
The Admiral’s stern face grew even stormier at the comparison but he dipped his head in acknowledgement of Cylon family names as Laura went on with her thought.
“Mr. Orish, forgive me but we have only your word that our people would be safe in your care. And we have no reason at all to trust you at this point. One of our people, Lieutenant Thrace, was held in a breeding facility on Caprica, a human farm. The horror of her description does not fill me with confidence.”
“This is the reason we brought the Caprica Resistance leaders with us on this mission. They have witnessed the liberation of all previously detained humans. We wished to assure you of our true agenda. All of those facilities have been closed.”
“And the detained women?” Roslin asked. “What became of them?”
“Some subjects, I regret to say, had to be humanely terminated.”
“Killed,” Bill Adama snarled. His trigger finger twitched and his gaze narrowed.
“Believe me it was for the best. Any who could be saved were given medical treatment and released into the care of the Resistance. But many were beyond help. They were warriors. We treated them as humanely as you treated our captives.” He stared pointedly at Roslin, forcing her to recall her order to put him out an air lock. She wondered if he remembered the incident, too. He nodded as if confirming it but went on with his argument. “The salient point I would ask you both to consider is that the farms were an utter failure. No viable children were produced from the thousands of fertilized embryos. We have no reason to continue the project. We have a better model for our new world. Your Lt. Agathon and our Eight.”
“Sharon,” Admiral Adama said.
“Yes, your Sharon,” Orish Nine confirmed. “She has conceived through free breeding. We are astounded by this development. And what it suggests.”
“What does it suggest?”
“That humans and cylons are more alike than we had realized. We must be vigilant lest we make similar mistakes. We have come to understand that the path of war is not the one God wishes for us. This thirteenth cylon. This new human. Could be the first of many and herald a new age. The continued survival of both of our species? What better mission could we have?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dee had planned on letting Lee coax her back to bed but the com buzzed. He kissed her absently, pulling away with no apparent regret, and went to take the call. A sense of dread settled heavily on Dee’s shoulders as she crossed to the sofa. Her silken robe billowed around her ankles as she perched on a cushion with feline grace. Drawing her robe closed and her feet up, she watched Lee warily.
His earlier display of temper had surprised her. She’d never witnessed his loss of control firsthand. Though, she’d heard stories of his anger and experienced it at a distance via the coms. Until today, he’d been unfailingly gentle with her. Something had changed. Her gaze darted the file on the floor but she didn’t linger on it. She needed to know what it contained but there was no need to draw attention to it now.
“Adama,” Lee said into the handset. After listening for a moment, he frowned. “Transmission?” he asked and then, said, “No, try to clean it up. I’ll be right there.”
“Trouble?” Dee asked when he disconnected.
He didn’t answer her immediately but stared into the middle distance for a moment before glancing at her and dismissively saying, “It’s nothing.” Dipping his chin, he avoided eye contact as he strode briskly across to his wardrobe. “But I need to go to CIC.” He traded his rumpled jacket for a new one and checked his reflection in the wardrobe door’s mirror. Combing his fingers through his hair, he said, “I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
Dee wished he would confide in her the way Billy always had but Lee seemed to be nothing but walls and false smiles. He kept her scrambling, unsure of her place. She went to stand behind him, sliding her arms around his waist. “Don’t worry about me,” she said, smiling sweetly up at him. “I need to get back to Galactica. I’m on shift in a few hours. But I’ll bring some of my things over next visit.”
Under her hands, Lee tensed. There was a slight catch in his breath and he stepped back a little, as if he’d already forgotten his invitation. But he recovered quickly, stooping to kiss her.
“Looking forward to it,” he murmured just before their lips met.
The kiss was slow and sweet. When it ended, Dee smoothed her robe over the swell of her breasts. The sweep of her hand caught Lee’s eye, as she’d hoped it would. Pregnancy had its advantages. She’d gone up a cup size in the last week. She hooked her arm in his. Holding his attention, she walked him to the door, careful to angle her body so she stayed between Lee and the folder. He left without giving the file a second thought.
Dee waited by the door until she was sure Lee wasn’t going to come back. Then, she went to his desk and bent to scoop the file from the floor. The papers skidded around, threatening to spill everywhere. Dee tilted her hand to balance them on the way to the desktop. Once she had them over the smooth surface she used her palm to stack the papers like an oversized deck of cards, squaring every sheet back into the folder, before she opened it.
She stared at the first sheet in the file, not certain what she’d been expecting only aware of her vague fears solidifying into an iceberg in her stomach. She read the topmost paper in the file again, unable to believe her bad luck. Kara Thrace was pregnant. Dee wanted to weep. She wanted to throw up. But after a few deep breaths, she managed to regain her composure. Losing her head would gain her nothing. She needed more information. It could be Anders’ baby or Karl Agathon’s. But if the baby was Lee’s…or even if it wasn’t…this could ruin everything.
The last thing Dee needed was Kara fainting into Lee’s arms on the flight deck. And she surely would, given half a chance. Women like Kara Thrace could always be counted on to be inconvenient. This file was proof of that. Why had it been in Lee’s possession? Dee shoved the mental image of Lee cradling Kara aside and flipped through the medical history looking for a date of conception. There was nothing. Kara hadn’t even had an ultrasound, yet.
She paged back to the sheet with the date of Kara’s last cycle. The date was auspicious. She and Lee had been openly involved on that date. Of course, Kara might be lying. Or Lee might be unfaithful. He certainly hadn’t objected to her cheating on Billy. And his earlier outburst of temper looked suspicious in the light of this file. Dee tapped her nails on the desktop. If this had happened two weeks earlier Kara could have, probably would have, aborted, severing any chance of a connection with Lee. She was a viper pilot and hardly the motherly sort. Unfortunately, abortions were now illegal. Dee leaned back in Lee’s chair, thinking about ways to ensure he and Kara stayed apart.
She knew of three ways to arrange a miscarriage. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem likely Kara would come to her for advice. She might still find a way to play the pilot card, convince Kara to transfer off the Pegasus. The second best option was a baby with irrefutable paternity, fathered by Anders. The illusion of paternity could be arranged. Dee had already doctored one set of medical files. A bribed nurse changed her baby’s father and future. Billy’s child became Lee Adama’s with the simple transposition of two numbers. But Lee had already read the contents of Kara’s file. And the date of her last cycle left a small window of opportunity before Anders arrived on the scene. The question was: Had Lee left Dee’s bed and gone to Kara’s? Even once?
Dee was pondering the possibility when the door chimed. She ignored the summons; too upset to deal with anyone. But jumped and nearly screamed a second or two later when the door started to swing open. Who in the name of Hades would feel free to just waltz in to their Commander’s private quarters? The answer hit Dee before her heart rate had time to stabilize. Again, she felt the icy burden in her chest. She rose hastily and moved away from the desk to stand behind the opening door.
“Lee?” Kara Thrace said, edging quietly into the room.
Dee was panicked and panting. Kara was the last person she’d expected or wanted to see. Stress was hammering at her temples. What was it going to take to break the bond between Lee and this woman? Gathering her nerve, Dee stepped forward. She was rewarded by Kara’s full-body twitch of astonishment.
“He’s not here,” she said, coolly.
Just as Kara exclaimed, “Frak!” her hand dropping to the place she usually wore a sidearm.
“And, Gods, you startled me,” Dee declared, stealing the rest of Kara’s indignation, “Just barging in here. What if we’d been…?” She waved a hand toward the sleeping alcove.
“I’m…I…” Kara choked on the first thing she thought of to say because her mind had gone instantly to the image of Lee and Dee locked together on the bed. Her hands started shaking. She knew she couldn’t bear to see that. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
Dee was gratified by Kara’s red-faced confusion. If the Captain had come a half hour earlier… Dee didn’t finish the thought. The only thing worse than enduring the humiliating position Lee had expected of her would be Kara Thrace witnessing it. But she knew better than to show weakness in the face of the enemy. She controlled her expression, schooling it into one of mild bliss.
“I’m moving in,” she said, calmly. Then, she glanced at the still partially open door. “I suppose to we need to get that lock changed.”
“Moving…in?”
Kara’s fingers curled into claws and her eyes narrowed. For one brief moment, Dee could taste victory. The sweet flavor drove out the bitterness of her fears. If only Kara would hit her. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d struck out in anger. She had an unladylike tendency to brawl. And if she reacted that way, then Lee would have no choice but to defend Dee and his unborn child. All it would take would be a call to the medlab, a tremulous concern for the safety of their baby. Dee braced for the blow. But to her surprise, Kara let the anger simmer rather than boil over.
She cocked her head, narrowed gaze sweeping over Dee’s scanty costume. Her upper lip twisted in a disdainful sneer.
“Am I interrupting anything?” she asked, obviously certain she wasn’t.
“Only my sleep,” Dee said, feeling inexplicably whorish.
“I need to see Lee.”
“Like I said,” Dee sighed, clutching her robe closed at the chest, “You’ve just missed him.” She turned toward the desk, biting her bottom lip. How could she approach the subject of Kara’s pregnancy? Her eyes found the file. She smiled tightly and then said, “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Kara had been turning to leave but she paused with one hand on the door. Her brow furrowed. “Congratulations?”
“Lee tells me you and Anders are expecting, too.” Dee dropped a hand to her nearly flat belly. “I hope you’ll be as happy as we are.”
The ashy cast of Kara’s cheeks as her color drained away did nothing to sooth Dee’s troubled mind. “Lee…told you about the baby?”
“Of course,” Dee said, airily. She had to be careful not to let her anxiety show. Taking small, steady steps, she crossed to the desk and picked up Kara’s file. “We don’t keep secrets from one another. As a matter of fact, I assume this is why you came? Lee was going to send it back to the lab with his apologies.”
Dee smiled at Kara. As if, Kara thought, Lee’s forgetfulness was a secret they, like all the other women in Lee’s harem, shared. Kara's nails bit into her palm as she made a fist. She was determined not to join that sorority.
“Lee…? Wanted to…apologize?”
“Yes,” Dee murmured. Her mind was churning like a stream swollen with spring melt. Kara’s incredulity had her searching for something else to say. Unable to think of anything clever, she stood a little taller and repeated herself. “Yes! He asked me to convey his apologies if you happened to stop by before he got back.”
Kara snorted but her expression was ineffable. Dee was thrown off stride, not sure if Kara even believed her. Drawing a deep, steadying breath, pressed on, hoping to trigger some reaction. She stepped within arm’s length of Kara and held out the folder, as if presenting it to her.
“Naturally, I didn’t think you would,” Dee continued, “Stop by, I mean. It’s such a silly reason.” Kara bristled at the insinuation that she’d seize on any excuse to see Lee. But she wanted her file. She eased toward it like a squirrel expecting a nut from a strange hand. Just as her fingers closed on the folder, Dee casually asked, “Is it Lee’s?”
Surprise twitched Kara’s arm and sent her file contents spilling to the floor. Red faced and confused, she bent to retrieve the papers even as she said, “No, Gods…. No! Why would you…?” She started shoving papers into the file. “How could you even ask me that?”
“Please, Kara. I’m not naïve,” Dee said. “I know you have a certain…reputation.”
“Reputation?” Kara stiffened at the word and Dee’s slightly condescending tone. Clutching her paperwork, she straightened out of her jackknife pose. “What reputation?”
Dee crossed her arms over her chest in a protective pose as she rushed out the bitter truth. Even after they’d openly started dating, it had never been her name mixed with Lee’s at the Triad table.
“People talk…other pilots…flight crew…around the card table. They say, you’re a good lay. And I’d have to be deaf and blind not to know about the wagering centered on you and Lee.”
This was news to Kara and it honed her gaze to dagger sharpness. Her jaw clenched as she fought to contain her temper. As she usually did when hurt, she spoke without thinking, lashing out.
“Too bad I didn’t know. I could have cleaned up in the betting pool.”
“There,” Dee breathed. Her knees were shaking and she thought she might faint. But she had her kernal of truth. Kara and Lee had slept together. The only question now was when? Dee took a deep cleansing breath and pulled her shoulders back. Her best strategy was a bluff. “As I said, Lee and I have very few secrets from one another.” Needing to sit, Dee swept by the stunned Kara and headed for the sofa. This would be the hardest part of the game. “It’s good to have everything out in the open. Now,” she patted the cushion next to hers as if inviting Kara to sit, “If your baby is Lee’s we will need to work a few things out between us.”
“Work things…?” Kara gave her head a sharp shake. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“If we leave it to the men, they’ll only fight.” Dee had a flash of inspiration. “Is that what happened today?” Kara stared at her open mouthed but the slight hitch of her shoulders told Dee she’d hit close to the mark. “I assume you are happy with Anders and I am certainly happy with Lee. We’ll be delivering within a month of each other. It will be a stressful time for everyone. Wouldn't it be better to have all of the custody issues settled? I can take maternity leave and I’m not in direct combat line but you have a problem. Motherhood and Vipers don’t mix. Are you going to want to continue flying after the birth?”
Kara’s skin crawled as an intense loathing for the other woman swept over her. She had no desire to discuss her baby or her future with Anastasia Dualla.
“You know what?” she snapped. “That’s none of your business. I’ve already told you. Lee’s not the father. Sam Anders is. When I am ready to talk about my future, I’ll discuss it with him, not Lee and definitely not you. And I didn’t come here to get this file. You can keep it,” she said, spinning the folder toward Lee’s desk.
“I see,” Dee said.
“No, I don’t think you do. I don’t care what happens between you and Lee. I’m through with this ship. I came to ask for a transfer. Since you are so good at sharing everything, why don’t you pass that on?” Kara spat and then, made a practiced turn on her heel and fled. The slam of the hatch gave her only momentary satisfaction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Sit-rep,” Lee snapped as he entered CIC. He was in no mood for trouble but he sensed it coming.
Hoshi handed him the daily log. There was a highlighted section near the middle. Lee paused to read it even as Hoshi explained, “We picked up a coded transmission, sir. Very brief. No way to triangulate an exact location. But it was definitely from inside the Pegasus.”
“How’s the decryption going?” Lee asked, walking with his XO toward the communication station.
“We have the answer but not the question, sir,” Petty Officer Brilla said, looking up at Lee from his nest of computer input panels.
“You’ve broken the code?”
“We have, sir. But some of it still isn’t making sense.”
“Show me,” Lee said.
“This is background noise.” Brilla pointed toward a set of squiggly lines on the screen. Lee knew the jagged sound waves told a story if you had the skill to read them. He watched Brilla jab a few buttons and the noise lines disappeared. “This is the encryption. We apply the translator and…” Brilla twisted a switch. There was a blast of squealing static and then a painfully distorted gargle.
“Run that back,” Lee ordered, signaling to Brilla to play the piece again. He listened intently but finally shook his head. “I can’t make it out.”
“Neither can the computer, sir. Yet. We think it is a question but it might be a single word. Maybe a name. We are expanding the search parameters to include proper names. However, this is the interesting part.” He twirled a dial or two and another set of sound bars appeared on his monitor.
This time when Brilla hit the switch a clear if sexless and emotionally neutral voice came through the speakers.
“Everything is in place,” it declared mechanically.
“Everything is in place?” Lee repeated. He chewed on his lower lip for a minute, considering the meaning behind the phrase. It was both innocuous and ominous. Then, he turned to Hoshi. “How long would it take to check for any inconsistencies in the protocols prior to this message?”
“How far back, sir?”
“Let’s say the last three sleep cycles.”
Hoshi grimaced. “Quite a long time, sir, the rest of this shift, probably well into the next one. Do you want us to check everything? Docking to Donuts?”
“No,” Lee said after a moment’s reflection. “Check the secure areas. Look for anything out of place. That won’t take as long.”
“Yes, sir,” Hoshi said. Saluting, he turned to give the various orders necessary to carry out Lee’s command.
With nothing further to do, Lee checked through the assorted reports in need of his signature. He made a note or two, autographed a few dotted lines and then left CIC to prowl the nearby corridors. He wandered as far as the officer’s mess. Pouring a cup of the witch’s brew the kitchen staff was passing off as coffee, he considered checking on Kara. But the thought of her triggered the familiar dull ache under his ribs and he grabbed a fistful of crackers before remembering Dr. Irisi’s warning about eating instead of feeling. No substituting, she’d warned. No booze. No food. No violence. He was already down two out of three since his last session. Regretfully, he let the crackers spill back into their bowl.
Straddling a chair back, he leaned his elbows heavily on it while he sipped his beverage. Every day the ‘coffee’ had a new flavor. Today, it tasted peanut-based. Lee grimaced and added a few squeezes of honey; glad the bee colonies on Cloud 9 were so well adapted to space travel. He stirred the honey in until it melted away. Once his drink was palatable, Lee let his mind dwell on Kara, again. This time, when the ache started, he tried to isolate what he was feeling.
But it was hard to isolate one emotion from the chaotic swirl in his mind. He settled on loneliness but there was also fear, anger and a vague sort of sadness that was closer to boredom than despair. And all of his emotions seemed connected in one way or another to Kara. The threads of his life and hers were as interlaced and sticky as a spider’s web.
Sometimes it seemed as if every part of him intersected with her. His brother was hers. His father was hers. His job…hers. She’d helped him win his ship. Given him a future. His career soared with her as his wingman. And she was his best friend. Or at least he still thought of her that way. Maybe she wasn’t his friend anymore. He tried to mentally sever the ‘best friend’ strand but found as he traced along it, that it supported too much of the web. Cutting away Kara would leave a gapping hole in his identity.
She was his CAG. Lee paused, cup halfway to his mouth. He hadn’t even considered the flying. Surely, Kara didn’t intend to continue as CAG. The new law wouldn’t allow her to endanger her unborn child. He wouldn’t allow it. He thought about her scheduled CAP. Setting his cup down with a bang, he crossed to the nearest com unit and picked up the handset.
“Traffic control,” an overly perky voice sang on the line, “Lieutenant Caprizi speaking.”
“This is Commander Adama. Is Captain Thrace scheduled to fly CAP today?”
“Let’s just take a look-see.” Lee heard the rattle of a clipboard and the rustling of pages. “Yes, sir. We have her on the next rotation.”
“Take her off it. Put Stinger on.”
“Done and done, sir. Shall I notify Captain Thrace of the change?”
“No, I’ll take care of that. Call Stinger, though, let him eat and shower. Thank you.” He broke the connection but held on to the handset. After a moment’s indecision, he dialed CIC, figuring he would save Kara for his last call. When Hoshi answered the com, Lee asked, “How’s that search coming?”
“Nothing yet, sir. We do have a translation on that word. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“What have you got?”
“Minotaur, sir,” Hoshi said.
“Minotaur?”
“Yes, sir. Like the labyrinth. And sir?”
“Yes, Hoshi.”
“We did find an early anomaly. I don’t see how it could matter. And I assume you are already aware…but…the computer is reading Captain Thrace in two different locations.”
“One of them is Anders. Kara gave him her tag as a memento,” Even as the explanation left Lee’s lips he realized what it meant on a more sinister level. Anders would have access to every secure area of the ship. “Where the frak is he?”
“Either in a supply closet off the flight deck, sir, or in munitions.”
“I need Marines,” Lee said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kara stormed away from Lee’s quarters with her head in a fog and no particular direction in mind. Her only desire was to put as much distance as possible between her and ‘that woman.’ She wasn’t ready to face Sam. She certainly wasn’t ready to fly. Her hands were shaking and her stomach seemed to be full of gnawing beetles. She was angry enough to be reckless but her anger refused to solidify into the kind of pointed fury she could wield as a weapon. Instead, it crawled around under her skin, making her twitch.
Unable to shake the relentless jittering, she considered retracing her steps and having it out with Dee in a furniture-breaking catfight. It would serve Lee Adama right to lose a few knick-knacks. But Kara knew the transient pleasure wouldn’t be worth the time she would spend in the brig. And besides, Dee was pregnant. Pregnant, Kara thought, like me. No more barroom brawls.
She jammed her hands in her pockets and tried not to think about the trembling. But the crawling sensation didn’t abate. It climbed up her arms and spread into her chest. Her breathing started catching in gasps. Head down, jaw clenched, she kept walking as the corridor blurred before her. A single teardrop tickled the end of her nose and she realized with a kind of sinking horror that she was crying.
Her mother had always punished tears, giving her ‘something to cry about.' Habits learned early made Kara unconsciously rake her hands through her hair, protecting her head from a ghostly blow. Her childhood shyness surfaced, demanding she find a convenient hiding place. She blinked the moisture from her eyes so she could scan her surroundings. She was in the forward storage holds. It was easy to locate a supply office. A quick sweep of her tags gave her entrance and she noted that, as expected, the tiny room was unoccupied. The Pegasus had only a third of her crew.
She slumped over to the bare desk and sat down, dropping head onto her folded arms.
Kara wept until she was gasping for air, until her bubbling nose became an embarrassment. It sent her searching through drawers for a rag or tissue. She found nothing helpful. Cursing, she extended the search to the boxes of supplies. After some scurrying around, she found toilet paper and pried open a case. As she wiped her face and blew her nose, Kara tried to come to grips with her overreaction. It was completely irrational.
Why did Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla make her feel like she was eight again? Admiral Cain’s steely glare hadn’t reduced her to blubbering. Lee Adama could bellow in her face without making her shiver. She could even stand up to his father on most days and Tigh was a cakewalk. Kara didn’t understand it. But every time she thought about Dee lately she felt sick and weepy and impotently furious. It had to be the baby. Hers or maybe Dee’s. These jagged mixed up emotions had to be hormone related. Though, they’d started the same day Dee had announced her pregnancy.
Something had flipped inside Kara that day. Prior to the announcement she had regarded Lee’s lukewarm romance with a pitying indulgence. But as soon as she heard about his impending fatherhood her hands had started shaking. And the uncharacteristic tremor returned whenever she got within twenty feet of Dualla. Kara tried to reason the twitching away. She had no cause to fear Dee or even dislike her. Dee was nobody, a non-com…an ornament. She was the sort of woman Kara had always held in contempt. Lee collected them like other people collected fancy china. Pre-war, Kara had teased him mercilessly about the women he picked up or picked out. None of them were in her league and she knew it. She had rank and skill. She could go toe-to-toe, nose-to-nose with any man in the fleet. And she could out shoot, out frak and out soldier Anastasia Dualla any day. Dee had nothing Kara wanted, needed or envied.
Except Lee, a tiny voice whispered in Kara’s ear. She spat a mental obscenity at it.
She didn’t want Lee. Lee was an arrogant asshole with a hair-trigger temper. And he’d shared her secret; their secret…even if he didn’t know it was theirs, with that…woman. Kara gave her head a hard shake. No, she didn’t want Lee Adama. Or his baby. What the frak was she going to do about his baby? No wonder she was holed up, crying like some homesick nugget. It was the hormones.
She’d turned her back on Lee a long time ago. But choosing Zak had done her no good. Choosing to fly with his father, hadn’t spared her either. Lee kept stepping in front of her, tripping her up. He’d survived the end of the frakking worlds just so he could be there with his unaltered seed at the worst possible moment. He’d screwed up her life, when it had finally started to make sense. She'd had a chance to be happy. She’d been happy with Sam. Sam respected her. He loved her for who she was. She was Sam Anders hero. Not some frakked up, foul-mouthed problem he had to deal with.
There was only one thing to do to be finally, totally, free of Lee Adama. She had to get off of his ship and get rid of his baby. Mind made up, Kara reached for the com unit above the desk and paged Flight Control.
“This is Captain Thrace. How soon can I clear a Raptor to Galactica?” she asked when the cheerful Caprizi picked up the line.
“I’ve got one I can have ready in twenty minutes. Number 618. Who’s your pilot?”
“I’m flying. Stinger can take my place on CAP.”
“Commander Adama already told me.”
“Told you what?” Kara asked with mild curiosity.
She was slightly distracted by a peculiar echoing in the walls. The desk was vibrating under her hand and against her knee. She cocked her head to listen to the strange thrumming noise. It sounded like some huge machine coming to life and it was growing louder.
“That Stinger was flying CAP,” Caprizi sang in her ear. “Commander Adama cancelled your rotation about ten minutes ago.”
“Cancelled it?” The news snapped her full attention back to her call. “Why the hell would he…” But she already knew. Lee Adama was getting in her way again. The son of a bitch was grounding her. Kara’s urge to weep evaporated, replaced in an instant by the urge to kill. “Fire that Raptor up, I’m on my way.”
The sound beyond the office intensified, nearly drowning out Caprizi’s response. Kara tucked the com receiver into the crook of her neck and slid a hand over the mouthpiece as the nondescript noise became identifiable as running footsteps. Within seconds the booted feet arrived at her door and stopped. Forgetting her anger, she faced the entrance, unconsciously bracing for an invasion.
The invaders didn’t bother knocking. They keyed in a code and the door was wrenched open with enough force to send it banging into the outer wall. Lee Adama entered the room. A handful of Marines crowded over the threshold behind him. Lee’s eyes swept past Kara and then came back to settle on her. He gave her a cold appraisal before turning to address his followers.
“It’s munitions,” he barked, pointing, and the Marines pivoted as one to thud away.
Lee didn’t follow them. Instead, he slowly turned to face Kara, again. She watched him warily, ignoring Lt. Caprizi's distant yodelling for her attention. Lee had a coiled purpose about him. When he moved, he closed the distance between them in a few quick strides. Removing the com from her surprisingly unresisting fingers, he smacked the wall unit and cleared the line for his own call, without apologizing to the flight tech he’d rudely cut off. Kara was too stunned to object.
“This is Lee Adama,” he said into the phone when whomever he was paging picked up. “It’s Munitions. Secure him. I’ll be right there.” As he replaced the com handset in its cradle, he drew in an audible breath. He didn’t glance at Kara as he asked, “Where’s your man?”
“My…man?” Kara choked a little on the outdated concept, almost laughing. Despite Lee’s serious demeanor and her own foul temper the phrase struck her as funny. “You mean Sam?”
“Yes, Sam. Anders.” Still staring straight ahead, Lee ground out the name. “Do you know where he is, right now?”
“I haven’t fitted him for a tracking collar, yet,” Kara said, losing the smidgeon of control she had left. “Maybe I should ask Dee where she got yours.”
A dark blue spark flashed in Lee’s eyes and he winced as if from a stinging slap. But to Kara’s surprise, he seemed reluctant to meet her gaze. His line of sight slid by her right ear. He was staring beyond her as he stepped into her personal space. Seizing her arm, he started dragging her toward the door. The rough handling triggered her simmering need for a fight. She punched her free hand into his shoulder and wrenched back, trying to free herself.
“He’s in Munitions,” Lee was saying. “Where he’s got no legitimate business. He’s been using your tags to access secure areas. The question is: what do you know about that?”
“What?” Kara shook her head and said it again, “What? That’s insane. He was going to meet a friend. Pay off a debt. Why would he be in Munitions?”
“I was hoping you could tell me,” Lee said as he tried to maneuver the uncooperative Kara around stacks of bundled supplies without looking at her. “Since you can’t. I’m going to assume he’s a spy. Maybe even a saboteur.”
They’d reached the doorway. Kara braced her hands and one foot against the frame, slamming Lee to a halt. “Are you completely out of your mind?” she snarled. “Sam, my Sam, isn’t a spy.”
“How do you know that?” Lee countered, speaking in a guarded hiss. “He’s just another guy you picked up…the way you always pick up guys. A has been athlete you found hiding under some rock on a dead world. You don’t know anything about him. For all you know he’s a…” For the first time, he made eye contact, staring down into Kara’s upturned face. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her lashes damp. He faltered in his fiery speech as the sticky tracks of her recently shed tears caught the light. Chilled, he spoke without thinking. “You’ve been crying,” he said. Concern made it sound more like an accusation than he'd intended.
It was Kara's turn to avoid eye contact. She had no intention of discussing her fragile emotional state with Lee. He would only mock her or blame Sam or start ordering her around. She glanced down, grinding her teeth in frustration as she tried to pry his fingers from her elbow.
“Kara?” Lee’s free hand touched her cheek in a feather light caress. “Did he hurt you?”
“Did he hurt me?” She huffed, indignation bring her chin up. Her gaze caught Lee’s and carried it back down to his hand, wrapped tightly around her bare arm. It took him a moment to register the pinched-white skin where his fingers were digging into her flesh. There were red marks, now. There would be bruises, later. “Sam doesn’t throw his weight around like some people,” Kara said.
Appalled, Lee jerked his hand back, releasing her. “I’m…I…”
“I know,” she sighed, completely fed up with him. “You’re sorry. You’re always sorry when it’s too late to fix anything.” She could see his apology struggling to make its way from his eyes to his lips but she didn’t care to hear it. Massaging feeling back into her arm, she shoved by him, intent on getting to Sam before Lee’s goon squad manhandled him.
“That’s not fair, Kara,” Lee said, falling into step beside her.
He didn’t mistreat women. Abuse women. That wasn’t part of who he was. But then, when he considered it, Kara was more like a part of him. She certainly didn't belong in the same category as Dee or Gianne. And Lee knew how hard he could be on himself. Was he really that hard on her, too?
“Fair? Now, you want fair? This thing with Sam? Are you being fair? No! This is just like you,” she declared. “Arrogant and judgmental. Always jumping to the wrong conclusion about everyone.”
“I’m not wrong about this,” Lee argued, fighting for patience. He'd become suddenly mindful of his temper. “Maybe I’m wrong about other things. Maybe a lot of things…but not this. He’s using you.” After a moment, he softly added, “And we can’t all be children, Kara. Some of us have to be grown-ups.”
Kara’s blood froze. She couldn’t believe his nerve. She braked sharply and spun to face him but the barrage of angry words melted on her tongue as she realized there was nothing she could say that would make one bit of difference. Lee couldn't hear her. And this, she understood all at once, was why it had never worked out between them. Why even the baby she carried couldn’t make it work. Lee didn’t respect her. He thought of her as a child, not a woman. To him she was a poorly trained brat, constantly bucking authority. Someone he needed to school and discipline and pick up after.
Sam Anders was different. He saw her potential. He didn’t overreact or try to control her. Most of all, she didn’t embarrass him. They were alike, street kids, scrappers. Like her, Sam had an abundance of charm and an easy sensuality. With a sad shake of her head, Kara turned her back on Lee and everything he’d meant to her and stalked away.
He stood watching her move off, confused and oddly forlorn. He hadn’t been expecting her to look so disappointed, to simply walk away. After a moment or two, he followed. They navigated the halls to Munitions in stewing silence. Both of them preoccupied with their own ruminations.
They arrived to find Anders already in custody. He was kneeling on the floor, fingers laced together on top of his head. Kara rushed toward him but his guard blocked her way with crossed weapons. She shot a fuming glare at Lee and he capitulated. A bob of his chin gave her tacit permission to comfort Anders. The guards parted to let her pass. Kara maneuvered through the circle of Marines, getting as close to Anders as they would allow. Sam was staring at the wall but cut his gaze toward Kara as she knelt near him.
“Hi, honey,” he said, cheerfully.
Kara stared at him with so much intensity her eyes almost crossed. But she pitched her voice at concerned murmur as she asked, “What the hell’s going on, Sam?”
“Damned if I know,” he said, shrugging. “Apparently, I’m not allowed in that room.” He used an elbow to indicate the Munitions Storage.
“There’s a sign,” Lee groused, barging into the middle of their conversation. He raised one brow and stabbed a finger at the painted warning on the wall by the door. “Just like the last time. A bright, orange security warning?”
Sam Anders’ craned his neck to stare. After looking, he gruffly acknowledged Lee’s point. “Yeah, okay, I saw it but…”
“But?” Lee encouraged. “You thought it didn’t apply to you?”
Sam shot Kara a ‘how do you put up with this guy’ look and then sighed and said, “Alright, guilty. I don’t read signs. But look…is Lloyd going to get in trouble over this? Because it really is all my fault.” He stared steadily at Kara. “I had to come down here because Lloyd was pulling a double shift.”
Lee frowned down at Anders for a long moment and then swiveled his head around and cocked a curious brow at the nearest Marine. “Who the hell is Lloyd?”
“Petty officer, second class, Lloyd Pjilianus, sir,” The Marine stood aside to give Lee a clear view of a stoop-shouldered, nearly bald man dressed in fatigues. “The Munitions’ ordinance officer.”
P.O.2 Lloyd Pjilianus was one of Admiral Cain’s conscripted civilians. Lee could tell at a glance. Their uniforms never fit right. They stumbled over protocols and procedures. They had that civilian slouch. Lloyd’s shoes were scuffed. His sunken chest and lack of hair made him seem much older than he probably was.
“It seems, sir,” the Marine was saying, “that he gave Anders access into the secured area.”
“He…gave…him access?” Lee said, weighing each word against his disbelief. “To Munitions?”
Despite Lee’s irritation, a dismayed smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he wrapped his mind around this concept. He cast a brief appeal over his shoulder, hoping to catch Kara’s eye and share his justifiable exasperation. In the past, when the irony of post-apocalyptic life became too much for Lee, he’d always found respite in Kara’s sense of the absurd. She had a way of laughing off frustration. It was a talent he often wished he had. Kara’s carefree nature was like a cool breeze on a hot day. It could calm him, even in the middle of a firefight. He missed her smile.
Now, seeing his appeal, she frowned, folding her arms and clenching her jaw belligerently. Lee sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. As usual these days, he was on his own. He stalked into Munitions, halting within a foot of Petty Officer Pjilianus’ nose.
“You let a civilian into a secured area, Pjilianus?”
“I…yes, sir.”
“Why?”
“It was my fault,” Anders called. “I owed him. Came to pay up. He fronted me a stake at triad last time I was onboard. I was settling the debt. Gave him an autographed pyramid ball.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Lee yelled back.
“For my son,” Pjilianus murmured, “Lloyd, Jr.? He’s in officer’s training on Galactica?” There was undisguised pride in his voice as he continued. “He’s only sixteen but he’s always been brilliant with FTL calculations. Commander Cain let him come aboard but we had to leave his mother behind when the…” His eyes turned glassy as he cleared his throat, unable to complete the thought. Lee felt a pang of pity for the man’s loss. “He’s been depressed. I thought…maybe a gift…?”
And this, Lee reflected was why it was lonely at the top. As commander, he was father and mother and religious counselor to the crew. He couldn’t lash out indiscriminately. Every word and action had to be weighed with care. Lee dealt with people like Lloyd and Anders everyday, people with no idea about military structure or procedure. Sadly, he couldn’t keel haul anyone. Nobody understood the sheer force of will it took not to lose control when faced with complete incompetence. Not even Dr. Irisi fully appreciated how much of his inner dialog went unspoken. The stress of command wore on him. Puffing out a pent breath, he did a slow count to twenty.
When he was sure he wouldn’t take anyone’s head off, he asked Pjilianus, “Was Samuel Anders ever alone in here?”
“Of course, I wasn’t alone,” Anders said. “I was with Lloyd.”
“Petty Officer?” Lee prompted, staring pointedly at Pjilianus.
“No, sir. I…I don’t think so, sir.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I don’t…I’m not sure, sir. I know I never left my post but I wasn’t always looking at him.”
“I want this room searched,” Lee said, turning to the nearest Marine. He glanced at Lloyd. “Do you have an inventory? Could you tell if anything were missing?”
“Yes, sir. I can get that, sir. But a full inventory will take some time.”
“You have time. You’re not leaving until it’s done. Get started.”
“Lee,” Kara motioned him to her, even as she walked toward him. She spoke with a softer tone than she’d used in weeks. “Think about this. Your Marines have Sam right there.” She pointed. “He couldn’t have taken anything. Where would he put it?”
Lee glanced at the Marine sergeant, a burly man with closely cropped blond hair and the wide-set, almond-shaped eyes of a Troyan. “Did you search him?”
“Yes, sir. Nothing. Empty pockets except for this.” The sergeant flashed Kara’s tag. Lee signaled for a toss, hand raised, palm out and was obliged. As Lee caught the tag and its key ring holder from the air, the Sergeant nodded toward a black duffle. “He was carrying that, sir. Nothing remarkable inside. Dirty clothes. Pyramid equipment, elbow pads…gloves.”
“So, he didn’t get whatever he was after. Or…” Lee drew the word out, considering as he glanced toward the Munitions storeroom, “He brought something with him.”
“Or you’ve misjudged him,” Kara said, resting a hand on Lee’s upper arm, “Again.” She used a cajoling tone as if hoping to persuade a child that the moon wasn’t for sale. Her body radiated soothing heat. “He was doing a favor for a crewman. Why would he want to sabotage a ship he’s almost living on? In the middle of a peace conference he’s promoting?”
Lee was staring at her hand, tracing the delicate curve of her fingers. When he lifted his gaze, it intersected hers. She caught him in her web. The need to kiss her, to hold her face between his hands and feel her lips part for his probing tongue, nearly prevailed over his righteous anger. The world, the corridor and the gathered Marines faded into so much background music. There was only Kara. As he shifted closer to her, he thought briefly of Dee. His heart sheered away from the thought. It made him feel sick inside. He didn’t want Dee.
But a small part of his mind knew she needed him in a way Kara never would. Kara didn’t need him. Didn’t want him, she was using him to help Anders. Remembering Sam slapped him back into reality.
“When I want your opinion, Captain,” he said, caustically, jerking his arm from her grasp. “I’ll ask for it.”
Hurt warred briefly with fury in Kara’s expression as she edged into his personal space, standing toe-to-toe with him. “You want to fight?” she breathed for his ears only. Her eyes searched his. ‘Or frak,’ her body language said, just loud enough for Lee to wince when she said, “Because all I want is Sam.”
“Sam is going to the brig,” Lee said, coolly. He stepped away from Kara and signaled the sergeant to carry out his order.
The sergeant, a man of few words, pointed to two of his Marines and cocked a thumb toward hack. Having heard Lee’s order, the men immediately responded to the gesture. They snapped off brisk salutes and then, using their rifle muzzles, prodded Sam to his feet. Kara did a little hopping dance of frustration, swaying first toward her lover and then toward Lee.
She was furious at both of them. Sam should never have been in the restricted area. But he had a good explanation for his mistake. And there was a witness in his defense. Lee was being ridiculous. Did he hate Sam…or her that much? Was the Pegasus driving him as mad as it had driven every other commander? When had her best friend turned into this cold, stiff stranger? Finally, as Anders and his guards started marching away, Kara faced Lee, stood at attention and saluted.
“Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Denied. Sam is going to the brig,” Lee repeated. He glanced at his watch. “And you are going back to your quarters. I’ll see you there when I’m done here. We’ll discuss your future.” He made it sound like she didn’t have one.
“Lee?” she pleaded.
“Dismissed.”
Kara’s dark eyes swirled with a maelstrom of emotion. Lee saw her nostrils flaring as her temper struggled to escape the firm, hard line of her compressed lips. He knew that look. It almost always heralded trouble. She shifted closer, scooping him up like a fish into the net of her willfulness.
Here we go, he thought, certain she would throw a punch. He’d have to toss her ass in the brig but if they could get the disappointment out in the open, maybe they could start talking again. But Kara wasn’t ready to talk. She drew into herself, slamming the door of shared understanding in his face and pivoted on her heel to follow Sam Anders and his guards. Lee watched her go with a breaking heart.
“There’s a call for you, sir,” the Sergeant said a few seconds later.
Lee shook off his melancholy and went to the wall-mounted intercom. “Adama,” he said.
“Sir, we have a problem,” Hoshi declared. “There’s some kind of virus in the system. It’s targeting life support. We’ve had excess oxygen reported on two decks already.”
“Excess?”
“Yes, sir. Not a lethal dose but enough to incapacitate the crew. People are passing out. The problem seems to be an override command from Auxiliary Control.”
Lee flashed to a memory of Colonel Tigh telling him about a cylon plan to infiltrate a Battlestar. “Someone’s using our own life support system against us?”
“Yes, sir. It could hit CIC any time. Take us all out. I’ve sent a team of technicians to Auxilliary Control already, but you are only five decks away. I thought you might be able to use your command codes, sir. Head off whatever is happening.”
“I’m on my way,” Lee said. “Contact me on…” He covered the mouthpiece for a second and thrust his hand at the Sergeant. “I’ll need your mobile com link.” When the Sergeant handed his link over, Lee read the com’s identity number off to Hoshi and then cut the CIC connection. Addressing the Sergeant again he said, “Finish the search here. Every nook and niche. And send a few more men after Anders. Make damned sure he gets to hack.”
“Yes, sir,” the Sergeant said, saluting.
After returning the salute, Lee shot a brief glance along the corridor Anders and Kara had taken. He wrestled for a second or two with a strong urge to follow them. He was convinced Anders was behind everything. But he had no evidence, just a gut feeling. And maybe Kara was right. Maybe his gut had rushed to judgment. Maybe all Sam Anders had done was steal Kara away from him.
Lee shrugged off his doubts. He had more pressing duties. His ship was under seige. He tucked the com link in his pocket and, turning his back on his personal problems, sprinted for the nearest deck ladder. He’d climbed only three of the five levels down when the com beeped. He hopped to the landing and answered it, expecting Hoshi with more bad news.
“Adama.”
“This is Lt. Randine. Sergeant? Is that you?”
“This is Commander Adama, I’ve got the Sergeant’s com link. Go ahead.”
“Oh, sir, I’m sorry to tell you, sir, but Anders got away from us.”
“He escaped?”
“Yes, sir. Captain Thrace…abetted, sir. She took us by surprise. Got a weapon and…”
“Kara?” Lee didn’t believe it. He knew she was pissed about his order but to stage a prison break she’d have to be desperate. Or, he thought, bitterly, she’s completely convinced that you are unfit to command. Both prospects left him shivering with apprehension. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, sir. As we passed the flight deck, Anders started resisting. I got the drop on him but Captain Thrace… Well, we she came up on us fast and we weren’t expecting trouble from her, sir.”
But I should have been, Lee thought.
“…and then, she cold cocked me, sir, knocked me out. Got Jake, too. I was down maybe twenty seconds. But that was all she needed. She’s tucked us into a closet, here, sir.” Lee could hear the metallic echo through the com link as the distant Lieutenant tapped his gun barrel on a pressure door. “Sealed us in on her authority.”
“Frak,” Lee muttered. Gods, he was going to kick her ass. As soon as this current crisis was under control he was going to hunt her down and kick her ass.
“Sir, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Lieutenant. I’ll have CIC let you out. And more men are on the way. Get them organized. Check with flight control. Kara will want a way off Pegasus. She’d need a Raptor, at least. Something pressurized. Follow her if you can. I’m heading to Auxiliary Control. Beep me if you learn anything.” Lee was about to sign off when he remembered. “Oh…and Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Captain Thrace is pregnant. Do your best not to...shoot her or anything…okay?”
END THIS PART
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-25 09:02 pm (UTC)Do you mind if I friend you?
Soooo....I #2, huh? LOL
Date: 2006-03-25 09:36 pm (UTC)No, seriously...are you kidding? Friend me...absolutely. Don't mind me if I don't friend you right back though...some of my friends aren't even friended. ;-D Mostly, because I totally suck at LJ. See my previous post about that.
As for your feedback...first, thank you so much for always being thoughtful and leaving me a little token of your love. ;-D I'm glad you enjoy the characterization, I do try to stick very close to canon in behavior. Which is why when canon goes bad...I can go bad, too. Hopefully, I will also be writing some more Nugget Slang Fic soon...just so we can have a little happy vibe going.
As for your addiction...I intend to keep feeding it. If that makes me an enabler...so be it. ;-D
Rae
Re: Soooo....I #2, huh? LOL
Date: 2006-03-26 03:03 pm (UTC)Allright, well...I friended you. Just so you know.
I don't mean to be nagg-ey but...when can we expect the fifth chapter?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-25 11:49 pm (UTC)I hope you don't mind me barging in like this, but you fic is my favorite WIP at the moment. And this latest chapter just reduced me to a blubbering mess.
I have been watching BSG ever since its first episode, but only started reading fics not long ago. I like how you keep your characters true to canon, but most of all I love your characterization of Lee Adama. Not only do you stay true to his cool and rational outward persona, you also capture the arrogant, passionate, and volatile side of him simmers below the surface. From what I've read of BSG fics, this is not always easy; yet you do it so well.
Looking forward to more from you ...
Barge away...how can I mind when you...
Date: 2006-03-26 12:01 am (UTC)I am happy to hear from anyone who lists my fic as their "favorite WIP." ;-D I am a shameless feedback hussy like that. And...I am also glad you enjoy my version of Lee Adama. I simply adore Lee. Though, maybe not in the same way other LEE fans adore him. I think he's as complex and endearing as a character can be and I love writing from his POV...because I'm never quite sure where he will take me. I love Kara because Lee loves Kara as well as also enjoying her complexities as a character.
More soon I hope...I am aiming for a chapter a week...beta babes willing.
Rae
thanking you again for taking the time to feedback. It is very much appreciated.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-26 12:28 am (UTC)I must say that I love the way you're portraying Dee. I've read many fics where she's annoying, clingy, just mean, but I've never seen her portrayed as being so manipulative. And quite frankly I love it. When I read the part about her kid being Billy's I nearly fell out of my chair in shock. That was a very nice and unexpected twist.
Also, the whole Anders/Minotaur thing is very intriguing and I can't wait to see where you take it.
I'll be anxiously awaiting the next chapter. :)
Glad you like the manipulative Dee
Date: 2006-03-26 01:22 am (UTC)I am also happy to hear you find you can't stop reading. I know my chapters are rather lengthy...and while I do it for the fans (so they aren't wasting their time and getting nowhere in the story) I, can, also appreciate how people might not have time to digest a whole chapter in one sitting.
I am anxiously awaiting...feedback...but I have the next part in the works already. It's a very action oriented chapter. Hopefully, it won't be long. I am aiming for weekly postings.
Thank you for your kind feedback...it's good to know someone cares about a new chapter going up.
Rae
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-26 12:39 am (UTC)i'm... in definite shock from the awesomeness of this! so much went on! and so much angst! and omg! Dee was such a bitch!
the thing between Lee and Kara at the end though... how she turned inward and then on her heels... brilliant.
thanks so much for sharing and i can't wait for more!!
You're in shock? Would you like me to...
Date: 2006-03-26 01:27 am (UTC)b) make you some cocoa?
c) kiss your forehead?
d) get back to work on Part 5?
I don't know what to say...I think you are my first reader ever "shocked by awesomeness" But I am happy you took the time to tell me about it. And I am glad you enjoyed the more subtle moment between Kara and Lee. I wanted to show in this chapter how hard it would be for them to be apart...emotionally or physically...to not be able to relie on each other for little things like shared jokes and the benefit of the doubt.
Working on Chapter 5. Writing...writing...
Rae
thanking you one more time for the interesting feedback. Smooches!
Re: You're in shock? Would you like me to...
Date: 2006-03-26 01:53 am (UTC)you really managed to complete your goal... their pain in that they can no longer rely on each other is palpable.
good luck with Chapter 5!!
♥
Re: You're in shock? Would you like me to...
Date: 2006-03-26 02:47 am (UTC)Do you have a website where all your BSG fic is?
Re: You're in shock? Would you like me to...
Date: 2006-03-26 03:33 am (UTC)By the way, I can't WAIT for Lee to find out it's his baby!! And for Dee to find out, and for everyone to find out her baby is Billy's!
Awww...pats your puppy head...gives you a biscuit
Date: 2006-03-26 04:19 am (UTC)Thanks for the feedback. Hopefully I will have the next chapter up soon.
Rae
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-26 03:35 am (UTC)Sorry, to hear you're all pin-and-needle-y
Date: 2006-03-26 03:59 am (UTC)Thanks for the feedback. Back to your prickly existence.
Rae
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-26 06:51 am (UTC)I can't wait for the next chapter.
Thanks for your feedback
Date: 2006-03-26 05:08 pm (UTC)I did feel her interaction with Lee was perfectly in character and very much like her early interactions with Billy. She decides to have a relationship and the men, who both were emotionally vulnerable, go along with it because she's so sweet and beautiful and she seems to expect things of them. It's a classic manipulative b.... set-up.
Thank you again for taking the time to leave feedback.
Rae
working on the next chapter
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-26 12:44 pm (UTC)I can't wait to see where the plot twists next!
BTW, my husband owes me a cookie. I guessed it was Billy's baby, and DH guessed "fake pregnancy until real conception or necessary fake miscarriage" for Dee, lol.
He should give you chocolate chip...
Date: 2006-03-26 05:11 pm (UTC)Kara definitely carrying Lee's baby...but sadly...on her way to abort it...with Sam Anders in tow...and poor Lee...he's got lots of trouble headed his way...
Sheesh!
Maybe I need some chocolate chip cookies... ;-D
But this feedback is also delicious...thanks for leaving it for me.
Rae
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-26 11:00 pm (UTC)This paragraph is pure genius:
He didn’t mistreat women. Abuse women. That wasn’t part of who he was. But then, when he considered it, Kara was more like a part of him. She certainly, didn't belong in the same category as Dee or Gianne. And Lee knew how hard he could be on himself. Was he really that hard on her, too?
You are SO RIGHT ON about this character - can you see Lee hitting Dee? Or his prostitute? Or Gianne? That would be crazy, totally unimaginable. But when you say Lee thinks of Kara more as a part of him - it is his egoism and his love for her and his self-hatred all wrapped up into one, the perfect explanation for the way he comes down so incredibly hard on her.
This was great and I really hope to read more of it soon!
Hoping to have more for you to read soon...
Date: 2006-03-27 02:39 am (UTC)Yes, Lee is figuring it out. The baby gave him the jolt he needed to start thinking along the right lines...to start seeing Kara in a new light. That is...to start thinking about what his life would look like without Kara. And he doesn't like how that life seems lonely and pointless. But things are so messed up with Dee and Anders that Lee can't see his way out of the quicksand just yet. He needs another jolt or two.
Meanwhile, Kara is being pushed closer and closer to her childhood. She's helpless to fight against a woman with more emotional power than her. She's being hurt and hounded by Lee and she feels she has nobody to rely on but herself. She wants to protect the baby, wants to keep it but can't face that because she knows she has to get rid of it or deal with Dee and Lee. Kara is trapped between divided loyalties. She's fracturing under the pressure of diametrically opposed and conflicting needs. For now, she's focused on the one thing she's sure is hers alone, Sam Anders, and her hope that if she can get him to Galactica, Admiral Adama will interceed and protect him.
Rae
Brilliant, again.
Date: 2006-03-26 11:22 pm (UTC)Again, you're brilliant and I can't wait for more. Now onto comments about the story:
You certainly know how to angst it up. I'm really feeling for Kara here because of how Lee's being but it's a good angsty/bad cause I'm waiting to see them work it out. They are going to work it out, right?
Anders is definetly up to something but I don't get why Kara would try to spring him, I mean she has to know it'd only delay brig time. Unless of course she suspects he's up to something and she's just gonna try and get him away before it all comes out. Is she going to make a break for the Raptor with him?
I KNEW IT! I knew that the baby was Billy's, it just had to be but at the same time how is that ever going to come out in the story. I mean I don't see Dee copping to it and I doubt Lee would demand a paternity test or something. I'll stew over that one. Wonder how Dee will react if anyone finds out that Kara is pregnant with Lee's baby. Probably evilly. *sigh* Billy was too good for her.
So what are the Cylons asking for? Adults or children, like babies to raise themselves or do they want adults like possibly Kara or Lee?
Thanks for the vote of "brilliant"
Date: 2006-03-27 02:26 am (UTC)Ah, the Cylons want breeding age humans. So, adults not children. The references are more like "sons and daughters of humanity" rather than actual sons or daughter...so, not babies. Rabid wonders if she should have made that clearer. Hmmm...anyway, it will become clearer. The point is it has suddenly become important for the cylons to protect the remaining humans. Unless...of course...this is some kind of ruse.
You want Kara and Lee to work it out? After he pushed her around...plans to move in with Dee...and failed to listen to her. After she broke her lover out of custody? Hmmm...oh...alright. ;-> Actually, I am worried about you living through the next chapter. Maybe you should start taking tranquilizers NOW.
I'm so glad you knew it wasn't Lee's baby. But yeah...there's a real poser...How IS anyone going to find out about that baby being Billy's? Who could tell them? :Rabid asks batting innocent eyelashes at you: I'm pretty sure Dee won't...and as you say...Lee has no reason to suspect he's NOT the father. Hmmmm...maybe there will be a way for Lee to learn the truth as we get closer to the birth. Maybe it will a difference in AB definition...Lee will take one look at the little tyke and say, "Hey, those aren't my abs...this can't be my baby."
Thanks for the feedback...I always enjoy your insight into my stories. And I'm happy to know I had you all tensed up...but...seriously...if you have some Xanax in the house...Chapter 5 is a doozy.
Rae
Now I'm just scared...
Date: 2006-03-27 05:14 am (UTC)Okay, so I'm sure you were clear about the being adults thing but I wasn't sure because I'm a spaz. As for wanting broken!Lee/Kara to work it out, yes. We're beyond insane but I don't want for Kara to just take him back without calling him on his crap and deep down Lee wouldn't either cause let's face it, that's part of what he loves about her. I also love how unhappy I am at Lee in this story cause it balances out how unhappy I was with Kara for what she did to Lee in LDYB Pt. 2.
I think it'd be brilliant if Cottle spilled Dee's little secret just cause I love the Cottle snark but yeah, I think the abs would give it away. *snickers quitely*
Xanax? Who needs it when you have M&Ms and Martinelli's. *nods placidly and dumps Xanax in M&M bag* Bring it. :)
Don't be scared...it's just like that first...
Date: 2006-03-27 09:16 pm (UTC)If only Lee would admit he's running scared and maybe not able to handle a relationship. If only he'd stand up to Dee and to his own sense of what's right and believe in Kara. But...alas...he's just following a pattern he's already established for relationships...keep them superfiscial.
Rae
I'm baaaaaack
Date: 2006-03-27 02:52 pm (UTC)Again, cant wait to see where you take us in chpt 5.
Heee...so, you are back...?
Date: 2006-03-27 09:10 pm (UTC)Actually, I know just what is going to happen to everyone...but I enjoy hearing the suggestions from the readers, too. Happy to have you back...though I hadn't actually missed you...did you fail to leave me feedback last time...? Hmmm...I would think I would MISS your feedback. I should go look and feel forlorn in retrospect.
Thank you so much for the kind words and compelling questions..."Just what DOES Kara think she's up to?" I believe she's going to be asking herself the same thing.
Rae
Went...looked...recognize you as my lurker
Date: 2006-03-27 09:24 pm (UTC)Appreciating you anew. ;->
Rae
back to working on Chapter 5 and drinking whiskey (this is what ruined Hemingway's short term memory, too).
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-28 09:05 am (UTC)You've got me feeling sympathetic towards everyone (except maybe Anders... ;}) even while I'm struck with the depth of their flaws. Certain aspects of Kara and Lee's relationship seem completely hopeless at this point, and I'm dying to see how that resolves. And obviously the same goes for the plot involving Anders and the Cylons.
Even as a beta the wait is going to kill me! ;D
Though I don't do the beta babe YIM chats
Date: 2006-03-28 04:10 pm (UTC)And frankly, he should have staked a claim at the dance, cut Baltar out of the picture instead of slinking off. Once Anders enters the arena...it's just so easy for Kara to focus on him and ignore Lee's half-hearted efforts to express himself. Kara does flirt openly with Lee in FoP and Final Cut but Lee keeps getting his dander up about things...then he gets all suicidal which is bound to scare Kara off...she's too emotionally scarred to fix him. Which is what I have them deal with in the Part 2 sex scene in this fic. That the other person is too emotionally scarred to help THEM.
However, my hope is that Kara and Lee are both strong people and they can move beyond this simplistic need for a person to "help" them. And by "help", I mean...not trigger any bad feelings. So Anders is fun and undemanding and sexually open...he's not going to be sulking and pouting and demanding things of Kara. And Dee is going to constantly remind Lee how important he is to her...how he has to stay with her...so he never has to feel unloved or unwanted.
Rae
friendly neighbourhood stalker....uh i mean lurker
Date: 2006-03-28 10:19 am (UTC)No feedback my butt......
Date: 2006-03-29 05:18 am (UTC)No real feedback for the first part, because there is no Kara/Lee in it. I'm pretty single-minded. The phrase "free breeding" was a bit disturbing.
And I hate Dee, I hate Dee with a passion of a thousand suns. If I were on Galactica, she would be a stain on the CIC decking. It sickens me the way she manipulates Lee. I suppose that's a pretty twisted compliment, you write Dee so convincingly that I want to throttle her.
+"“It’s munitions,” he barked, pointing, and the Marines pivoted as one to thud away."
I think this is hilarious, they storm in, look at Kara, and then storm out. Bwahahaha. I do feel sorry for Kara, how many times have one of us been in a situation where we are scrambling for tissue/tp/paper or anything to stifle a crying jag.
+"Kara’s blood froze. She couldn’t believe his nerve. She braked sharply and spun to face him but the barrage of angry words melted on her tongue as she realized there was nothing she could say that would make one bit of difference. Lee couldn't hear her. And this, she understood all at once, was why it had never worked out between them. Why even the baby she carried couldn’t make it work. Lee didn’t respect her."
I've read this story before, but re-reading this paragraph almost made me cry. It is so ... devastating to have unrequited love. That despite all that may come and all that has occurred, the love has no chance to flourish. Truly realizing and internalizing that can be a desperate and shattering epiphany.
Your detail to military protocol is ... all-encompassing. It's a nice feeling to see the inner-workings of the protocol that Lee relies on so heavily.
+"Captain Thrace is pregnant. Do your best not to...shoot her or anything…okay?"
I just started laughing at that comment.
I'm impatient, woman. I need Dee to get her ass kicked and Kara to be courted by Lee, yesterday!
While I am indeed...evil...
Date: 2006-03-29 06:07 pm (UTC)But...thank you...thank you for the lovely feedback. Solicited or no...it is warming the cockles of my heart. I now have warm cockles.
And I am working on...uhm...well...no...not Dee getting her ass kicked...let's just say I am moving things along...we must deal with the unrequited love that was busy breaking your heart. Even though...Kara is being a little loony in this chapter. She's got to know she's going straight to the brig when she gets to Galactica.
Rae
also absurdly happy you enjoy the protocols...I had fun with them.
Re: While I am indeed...evil...
Date: 2006-03-29 10:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-02 04:22 am (UTC)And you've tweaked it even more than the draft I read and made it even more delicious.
I have to say that the internal thoughts and feeling of Lee and Kara are so superb, so understandable, so hopeless and heart breaking, it makes me ache for both of them.
When Dee compounded everyone of Kara's self doubts about Lee and reducing her to crying like she was a kid again, I felt like crying myself. And your description of Kara subconsciously covering her head for a ghost blow was amazing. You brought me straight back to when Kara left Adama's quarters with her hands over her head. The image helped sharpen the picture you were painting in our minds. So brilliant :)
Each time I read the part where Lee suddenly stops talking and notices the tears tracks down her cheeks, I have such an urge to hold a gun to his head and demand that he kiss her. Lee is such an idiot! But instead he was being brutal with her again, manhandling her like he so often does.
He didn’t mistreat women. Abuse women. That wasn’t part of who he was. But then, when he considered it, Kara was more like a part of him. She certainly didn't belong in the same category as Dee or Gianne. And Lee knew how hard he could be on himself. Was he really that hard on her, too?
This is such an insightful thing for Lee to realise. He doesn't treat Kara like he does his other women, he never can hold back when it comes to her. And this is beautifully based on canon. And Kara in turn never has clear judgement when it comes to Lee, she is always impulsive and has a tendency to react to him, if he hurts her she lashes out. If he rejects her in the smallest way, she retreats.
I hope the next chapter will be ready soon; it is such a treat reading your fics. *mwah*
I feel guilty for leaving you feedback on your fb
Date: 2006-04-06 01:43 am (UTC)Yes, I, too, was remembering that scene when Kara leaves Adama's office. I worked that out with one of my beta babes one night. We were discussing the crying and that came up and I said, "She's protecting her head"...just as they said something similar. So, I had to bring that out.
And again...people are picking up the truth of this fic which is that Kara isn't showing clear judgment about Lee...and all will be explained in Chapter 5...however, the nuances of that are playing out in the way she fails to deal with OTHERS, too. She doesn't notice Anders or Dee manipulating her...even though she's fairly saavy...and that's because she's concentrating on this emotional war she's got going on with Lee. As you say, if he rejects her in the smallest way, she retreats.
That is, I think, consistent in the canon as well...all I intend to do is 1) explain it and 2) fix it. ;-D
Thanks for leaving me feedback in two places...you've gone above and beyond. HUGS!
Rae
From the Fashionably Late FB Department
Date: 2006-04-02 04:44 am (UTC)All the characters here are so gorgeously frakked up. Love the idea of Lee in therapy (everyone on the show needs years with a head-shrinker to sort out all the issues). I really hope Dr. Irisi's not a cylon 'cuz I quite like her. And the thing with the crackers? Priceless.
Dee is so twisted and manipulative. If she survives the (eagerly, hopefully, anticipated) Wrath of Kara, she's going to make some man president of the colonies one day. Just not Lee.
And love Anders with his false civilian ignorance and calculated charm. "Oops, I'm just a poor dumb pyramid player. I didn't realize that door said RESTRICTED, DO NOT ENTER. That's what it said on all the locker room doors at all the stadiums I played at. I thought it was Restricted for me, not restricted from me." Lee, dude, go with your gut! This guy is baaaad news.
But Kara is breaking my heart. She's being controlled by the circumstances, letting everyone manipulate her except Lee, in an effort not to be manipulated by Lee. Oh, Kara, you should take up yoga or something to clear your head and realize the truth.
And Laura and Bill clasping hands with her hair brushing his cheek... *big fluffy smiles* Maybe they can raise poor Billy's baby after Dee gets her comeuppance...
Thanks so much for writing this!
Oh...long, involved, point-covering feedback...
Date: 2006-04-06 01:37 am (UTC)And I loved your commentary about Anders...that's true, I bet he is used to have the No Admittance signs on his locker room doors.
Dr. Irisi is not a cylon...she's just a therapist. And she will be back...for Lee and for a few other people.
I'm also glad Kara is breaking your heart. Kara gets more of an inner voice in Chapter 5 but until this point in the story (just like on the show) we aren't sure what the hell she's thinking. She is letting everyone manipulate her but Lee...and there is a reason for that. She is concentrating on Lee and not really spending too much of her energy on anyone else. And that's going to cost her.
Oh, and yes...Lee should got with his gut. He's having a hard time of it lately but he's still got the good stuff at his core. It just needs to surface.
Rae
thanking you so much for leaving a really meaty comment. SMOOCHES!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-05 07:38 pm (UTC)Kara's rebelled?
Awesomeness. (I'm sorry I sound like a thirteen years old, but I'm not very coherent right now...)
You are cracking me up
Date: 2006-04-06 01:32 am (UTC)Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness in leaving comments at every chapter. It means a lot even when you don't say a lot.
Chapter 5 coming soon...
Rae
Re: You are cracking me up
Date: 2006-04-06 02:49 pm (UTC)