Chapter 4- distortion

Present time- somewhere within Galactica

Coldness flying onto his face brought Lee back to consciousness. As he opened his eyes he fought disorientation and confusion. He was lying on the floor of one of the maintence corridors with cold water from a pipe dripping onto his face. But what had he been doing here. Lee fought to regain that memory but found a fog clouding his mind. He checked himself over carefully front and back from head to toe but could not find any trace of an injury. It was hot here so maybe he had just collapsed from heat exhaustion. Looking at his time piece he noted that only 30 minutes had passed.

Dragging himself to his feet he wandered back to the one of the quieter main corridors. There he literally bumped into Kara. "Lee did you find them" ,Kara asked with urgency. "Them…,Lee was feeling confused. Kara stared at him feeling that he seemed a little off. His faced was flushed and he looked like he'd been sweating.

Maybe though he was just anxious about reporting the loss of two pilots. Kara could not blame him for that as both Tigh and his father were not going to be happy. She knew him well enough to know what was going on in his mind right now. Time to be a reassuring friend, "look Lee it was not your fault. Tollen and Frost made their own choices", she told him firmly. Tollen and Frost,Lee knew they were pilots but why was not his fault. This was all feeling a little weird. He still could not recall what he had been doing. In fact even now he felt like he could not quite focus on what was happening. But he did not want to make that type of confession to Kara.

Kara found herself feeling worried, Lee was now just standing there staring off into space. "Maybe there are other places we have not looked", Kara knew she was really just giving false hope. "Neither of them could get away with leaving the Galactica without some sign. So they must be somewhere as they cannot just disappear".'

Ah that's right Lee recalled, he'd been looking for Frost and Tollen. Had he looked everywhere,he actually was not totally sure. What was happening to him, he felt like he was just slipping away. His ability to concentrate on the here and now was slipping further away. He was feeling hotter by the second.

"I guess you'll have to report their absence now Lee, waiting any longer will just make it worse for you", Kara was telling him. "worse", he repated woodenly. He sounded not quite with it, Kara realized, a stab of worry blossomed within her, "Lee are you alright", she asked him in concern.

Was he alright, he certainly did not feel it. He found the heat burning him relentlessly. But it was not just within him. It also seemed to be all around. But the brightest point was centered right over Kara , That fire felt like it was consuming him piece by piece and he could think of only one way of extinguishing the flame. All rational thought was burnt out and he could think of only one thing to do. You can put out a fire by making it hotter and burning out all the fuel.

For the second time Kara Thrace found Lee Adama pointing a weapon at him. "I have to put it out", she heard. Kara felt the fear building again, last time Lee had just be angry. This time he sounded perfectly calm but was sounding and acting totally irrational. Sweat was pouring off his body to drip on the ground. He looked like he had a fever. But how could he have developed an illness so fast. Kara was approaching panic mode.

The chief was not around to help out this time. Nor was anyone else. This corridor was at times very active but with alerts happening fast most personnel were at their stations. Trying to calm herself enough to talk without a shaking voice Kara said, "Lee just put the gun down and we can talk about this".

Heat was building up within Lee making feel like he was about to explode. He was hardly aware of the weapon in his hands. All he could think about was stopping the burning feeling before he was consumed. Tightening his finger on the trigger he fired directly at the brightest point, Kara.

She only had one second to see the expression in Lee's face change and threw herself sideways as he fired. The hard ground jolted her body as she hit. Above her the blast hit the wall burning a dark patch across it's surface. Rolling herself along the floor and away from Lee Kara leapt to her feet and ran down the corridor. She could feel her own breath puffing from her lips and hear the sound of Lee's running feet behind her. She hoped that perhaps Lee would tire or collapse before he managed to hit her. Barreling around the corner Kara found a group of 4 technicians in front of her. "Out of the way now", she screamed at them. One of them was about to ask why when another shot hit the wall above his head. None of them stopped to ask any questions after that just turning and fleeing.

"Lt. why don't you fire back', one technician puffed as he ran. Kara found herself swallowing hard at the suggestion. That would definitely put a stop to Lee shooting at them. But she would have to make sure it was a non lethal shot. That would be hard to do with Lee shooting wildly.

Kara felt heat blossom inches away and heard the loud crack that meant another shot had been fired. His aim was getting a lot better. This situation would have to be sorted out before he could kill or injure herself or one of the others. But right now all she could do was run. One of the technicians must have been an athlete on his home planet as he sprinted in front of her. "Marines to corridor C", she heard the call seconds filled her as she realized the technician had decided to end this his own way. The marines were a type of help Kara did not need in this sort of situation. They would probably just shoot first and ask questions later. She had to inform everyone of exactly what was happening and who they were dealing with. Despite their ongoing problems Kara knew Bill loved Lee deeply and would not want him gunned down.

She heard Bill now, through the comm line demanding to know why the marines were necessary. She was about to move forward and answer when was gunfire sounded aright beside her ear. A flash of brightness illuminated the corridor and she felt the heat of the blast burn inches from her.

The communications console turned into a mass of twisted metal and wires as the blast hit . The terrified technician had seconds in which to leap to safety.

Kara dared one look behind her and felt chilled as she saw that Lee's eyes were all glazed and wild. He did not look like he was either tiring or about to collapse.

It was time for a plan, somehow she had to get behind Lee and take him out before the marine squad arrived to deal with the situation.

"Split up everyone, you two go left at the next junction and you others go right, I'll keep going straight ahead. Don't worry it's me he's angry at", Kara told them.

Relieved to be getting out of firing range the technicians were happy to follow Kara's instructions. She was hoping that Lee was distracted enough by the splitting up of the group to give her time to rush him. It was a dangerous move she knew but events were fast spiraling out of control.

They barreled along to the corridors intersection. If Lee kept going now he was probably going to make it all the way to the bridge and that would be a disaster. Once there he would be shot without hesitation.

"Now", Kara yelled at the technicians as the junction loomed ahead of them.

Lee had no idea why he was running down a corridor firing at people running in front of him. All he felt was fire burning within him. The fiery feeling receded slightly when he used the gun. But his targets would not stand still long enough for him to hit them. Now they were splitting up and Lee found himself slowing and stopping as he tried to see which way Kara had gone. It was her he wanted, she was the source of the heat. His head tunred and he saw her running toward him fast. Raising the weapon Lee was about to squeeze the trigger when Kara threw herself on top of him and knocked the gun from his hand.

He hit out at her wildly trying to gain the upper hand.

Kara knew that Lee could hit hard but his blows were at the moment as wild as his eyes. He seemed to just be hitting at nothing and it was all she could barely keep him pinned down.

The sounds of running feet became obvious and seconds later an armed marine team came upon them. Unfortunately it seemed to aggravate Lee and he thrashed more. His fingers were desperately trying to reach the fallen gun and Kara was having trouble stopping them.

The marines stood staring at the sight of Lee Adama thrashing wildly about with Kara Thrace attempting to hold him down. One saw him reach his fingers out touch the barrel of a weapon and try to drag it forward.

Deciding to solve the problem himself one marine approached and hit Lee hard on the jaw. He went limp seconds later.

Kara rolled off Lee breathing heavily. "What the frak Lee", she demanded of his unconscious form.

"What happened Lt. requested the marine commander. "He went a little crazy on me", Kara replied.

The commander bent over Captain Adamas still form and regarded him solemly. "Look at his pupils", he stated. Kara stared into Lees eyes and immediately saw what the marine meant.

"Med bay ,we have a situation here, looks like Captain Adama has OD on stimms", the marine commander reported.

Kara shook her head, Lee ODing on stimms, it did not seem like something he would do. But his behavior and the state of his pupils indicated clearly that was exactly what had happened. She watched tensely as a medical team arrived and strapped Lee firmly to a stretcher. She was going to follow him but then decided that she'd only get ordered away. With Lee out of action she was the best choice for CAG. Wishing him well sliently she made her way to the CAGs office.

Commander Adama was in a mood he knew he would describe as 'livid". He had heard the report from the marines and Kara Thrace that his son had been taken to med bay with a suspected OD of stimulants.

"What a frak up Lee that's such a great example to other pilots", Bill muttered to himself. "Maybe it was the pressure of the position", Tigh suggested carefully. "We are all stressed Saul its no bloody excuse", Bill flung back through gritted teeth. Lee was proving to be a giant embarrassment. His earlier goodwill toward his son had faded away. Maybe this would not have happened if instead of being 'Mr nice dad", he had decided to go for "the yelling commander".

Commander Adama to med bay", the request boomed loudly. Bill just stood at CIC and did not move. Most of the crew stared at him with looks that clearly indicated shock. "Lee only has himself to blame", Bill muttered to Saul, "he does n't need me".

Saul Tigh recognised the deep anger within his commander and did not try to change his mind. He did not think much of Lee Adama and believed his OD was a clear sign he should be stood down from being CAG.

Bill was trying to get his raging emotions back in control when his direct communication line buzzed. He picked it up, "Commander did you not hear the summons to Med bay, Major Cottle demanded. Bill was not going to bother lying, "yes I did doctor but I do not feel like I need see my son at this time", he replied.

He expected Cottle to be angry with his reply and was prepared for that but the abrupt, "get your butt down here right frakking now", was a lot more forceful than he'd expected. In fact the tone sent a shiver of fear straight to his mind and heart. There was an urgency that would only occur if the situation was serious.

Not stopping to say anything further Bill left at a run. He arrived in med bay puffing and out of breath.

His eyes scanned the beds looking for his son. When he finally saw him Bill felt his legs go weak underneath him. There were technicians bustling around the bed, drawing blood, inserting lines and generally looking like the situation was life threatening.

He hurried to the bed side and tried to push himself through the crowd. Cottle stood in his way and gripped him around the arm. His fingers were like a vice, unmovable and Bill found himself being dragged away. "They need space to work on him at the moment", Cottle told him firmly.

"How much stimms did he take", he asked fearfully. All thoughts of his son shaming him had now faded. Lee was so still that it scared him.

"Cottle was giving him this strange look, measuring like there was something he was mssing. But he did not know what that was. Feeling worried, frustrated and angry all in one he snapped, "just tell me"

Captain Adama came in here exhibiting all the signs of ODing on codemeine ,the medication that we use as a stimulant. However he can't have ODed on that because he was not taking it."What", Bill frowned, all pilots had been ordered to take the medication and Lee should not be an exception.

"Surely you know your own sons history', Cottle asked bluntly. Bill felt himself flush at the accusation. "We weren't exactly on speaking terms most of the time", he replied softly, sadly. Cottle just nodded and did not make any verbal accusation but his eyes clearly said, "that is not acceptable, he's your son"

When Cottle did speak it was in a matter of fact, 'reporting ' voice. "Captain Adama experienced a few problems when he took stimulants on board the Atlantia. He had a reaction and Doctors were concerned that any further exposure would lead to anaphylactic shock".

"Thus I gave him a different type of medication that would still enable him to fly but would in the long run not be as effective."Cottle explained. "He would in effect be prone to the effects of fatigue eventually and have to be pulled from duty. I warned him of the usual side effects of fatigue".

Bill was feeling slightly like an idiot for not knowing all of this. He glanced over at the hub of activity around Lee's bed. "so what happened", he asked. "He is suffering from a severe allergic reaction but I can find no trace of codemeine in his bloodstream. Thus we can rule out that he accidently took some of the wrong medication". Cottle paused, he knew Bill Adama was not going to like this next bit. He did not like saying the words either. "His irrational behavior was prompted by an elevated temperature. It was dangerously high, near a lethal level."He said that so calmly but the words shot harshly through Bill and he tried to pull away and go to Lee again. Cottle still held him firmly, he was not a warrior but his grip was still iron fierce.

"I have given him adrenaline to counter the effects of the reaction and he is responding though not as quickly as I had hoped. Although we have run various tests we are unable to determine what caused the reaction". If I knew the exact substance then treatment would be a lot more effective".

Bill let the words settle for a moment before asking something that part of him was fearful to hear answered, 'he will be alright".

Cottle nodded, "we managed to get his temperature down and I do not believe there will be any lasting medical effects. However until we know what caused the reaction he is at risk. In cases of allergic reaction often the second exposures has more serious effects upon the body."

Bill did not need a translation for that one, Cottle was simply saying 'the next time he may die".