REUNION
A Star Trek/Battlestar Galactica Crossover Tale
by Robert Perkins
CHAPTER FIVE
ABOARD BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, THE GREAT BETA QUADRANT VOID, DAY 273 SINCE THE FALL OF THE TWELVE COLONIES (16 APRIL 2153, EARTH STANDARD CALENDAR).
In his lab aboard the Battlestar GALACTICA, Doctor Gaius Baltar was watching a Talk Wireless news feed on the destruction of the liner, CLOUD NINE, the previous evening. The attractive, blonde Playa Palacios was on the screen.
"Along with the CLOUD NINE, four other vessels were destroyed after being struck by fragments from the explosion. Two others were severely damaged. One of these, the Tylium refinery ship DARU MOZU, could have created a disaster of its own had the Tylium aboard her been detonated. Fortunately, damage control crews were able to prevent that from happening, possibly saving thousands of lives. As it is, estimates of the lives lost in the disaster currently are approaching ten thousand."
"Ten thousand," Baltar whispered. Suddenly, he could feel hot breath on his neck.
"Actually quite a few more than ten thousand," said the angel who appeared to him in the guise of the beautiful blonde Cylon he had once loved. "A tragedy."
Baltar felt her begin to gently massage his neck and shoulders. He leaned back in his chair, enjoying the sensation. "Yes, a tragedy," he said. And a tragedy for which he could not help but feel at least partly responsible. Although he could not be absolutely certain...or so he told himself, to salve what little conscience he had left...he was sure that explosion had been caused by Gina Inviere, using the nuclear warhead he had given to the Demand Peace movement. But nobody knew that...did they?
The angel laughed. "Do they know, Gaius?"
Just then, there was a hissing noise as the hatch covering the doorway of the lab slid open. Gaius turned from his video screen and was confronted by the sight of Lieutenant Felix Gaeta, accompanied by several hard-faced marines.
"Dr. Baltar," Gaeta said formally, "Admiral Adama wishes to see you in the briefing room. Come with me, please."
"Your secret's out," the angel jeered.
"No!" Baltar exclaimed, panicked.
"I'm afraid that wasn't a request," Gaeta said. "If you won't come willingly, we are authorized to use force."
Baltar stood up, slicked back his hair and fastidiously straightened the front of his lab coat. He looked at Gaeta. "That won't be necessary, Lieutenant," he said. The marines assumed positions around him, and together, they all left the lab. A few minutes later, Baltar was escorted into the briefing room. He saw that Admiral Adama was there, along with a very tense-looking President Laura Roslin, Colonel Tigh, and the Earthling, Captain Archer.
"Please be seated, Doctor Baltar," Adama said gruffly.
Baltar did as he was told. The angel reappeared, taking the empty seat beside him. She was dressed, this time, in a very distracting, slinky white dress made of a thin, sheer fabric. Baltar thought he could almost see the outlines of her pink nipples through the dress. She sat back in the chair and crossed her long, sexy legs, looking at Baltar with a sly, mocking smile on her face. He looked into her beautiful, clear blue eyes...and then he was suddenly called back to reality.
"What are you looking at, Doctor?," Adama snapped. "Did you hear what I just said?"
Startled, Baltar quickly looked at Adama. "I'm sorry...no, I didn't," he said. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I guess I've just been...stunned...yes, stunned, by what happened last night." He affected to wipe a tear from his eye. "So tragic. So tragic."
"We couldn't agree more, Doctor Baltar," President Roslin said, looking at him very much like a tiger might look at a baby lamb...a very hungry tiger. "A very tragic affair. An affair for which those responsible must pay."
"Of course they must pay...whoever they are," Baltar said quickly.
"That's why we had your lab searched last night, immediately after the catastrophe," Roslin continued. "And what we found...or didn't find...was, shall we say, intriguing."
"They know," the angel said. "Do you know what they'll do to you, Gaius?"
Baltar did his best to ignore her. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you could have found, or why any of this concerns me," Baltar said, looking Roslin straight in the eye. His mind was racing. He knew what they had found...or not found. But he couldn't let them know that. And he had to come up with an explanation, fast. But first, he thought, stall for time. "Perhaps you'd care to enlighten me," he said.
Tigh growled. "Why are we playing games with this...motherfrakker," he said. "We know he's responsible."
"Responsible for what, Colonel?" Baltar demanded, leaning forward in his seat aggressively. "Enough with the innuendo and the veiled suggestions of guilt. What, exactly, do you think I've done?"
Adama looked at Baltar with baleful eyes, his expression hard as stone. "Doctor, where is the nuclear warhead?"
"Nuclear warhead?" Baltar exclaimed. His eyes widened. "Nuclear warhead! Do you think I had something to do with the explosion aboard the CLOUD NINE?"
"Answer the question!" Tigh shouted, pounding his fist on the table, his face red. "Where's the frakking warhead?"
"Think quickly, Gaius," the angel taunted.
"Hush!" Baltar hissed.
"What did you say to me, Doctor?" Tigh growled.
Suddenly, the answer came to him. Baltar stood up and looked straight into Tigh's eyes.
"You ought to know, Colonel," he said simply.
"Felgercarb!," Tigh hissed in return, his face reddening even more. "What the frak does that mean?"
Baltar looked at Adama. "Admiral, it happened shortly after the Cylon Boomer's attempt on your life. An officer and two marines came to my lab with signed orders from Colonel Tigh, stating that in light of the failure of my Cylon Detector to ferret out the Cylon who had tried to murder you, the nuclear warhead was being taken away from me and returned to GALACTICA's weapons inventory. I already had all the plutonium I needed to continue my efforts to perfect the Cylon Detector, so I allowed them to take the warhead into their custody."
"Very good, Gaius!" the angel said. "I'm impressed!" Baltar suppressed a smile.
Tigh spluttered, "Wait a frakking second! I never authorized that!" He looked at Adama. "You've seen my logs, Bill!"
Adama had, indeed, seen the logs which Tigh had kept during that dark time, and he knew in his heart that his friend had not written the order. But there were others who certainly could have done it. "Did you recognize the men who came to you that day, Doctor?" Adama asked.
Baltar affected to look as if he was trying to remember, then he shook his head. "No, Admiral. I'm afraid I didn't. There are still many personnel aboard this vessel who I don't recognize on sight." He sighed. "And I'm afraid I didn't attempt to confirm the orders, which seemed completely reasonable to me, given what had just happened. Perhaps if I had..." He shook his head again. "I'm sorry, Admiral." He sat down, affecting a stunned look. "If it was THAT warhead...by the gods..."
President Roslin looked at him, a sour look on her face. Well played, Doctor, she thought to herself. She suspected, but couldn't prove, that Baltar had, in some way, colluded with the Cylons and was somehow involved with the destruction of the Twelve Colonies. As she lay dying from cancer in sickbay, she had received visions...she thought they were memories, but she couldn't be sure...in which she had seen Baltar, in the days before the Cylon attack on the Colonies, in the company of the blonde Cylon known as Shelley Godfrey and Gina Inviere. She also felt, in her heart, that Baltar was somehow responsible for the destruction of the CLOUD NINE. But once again, she had no proof. And as much as she would have liked to in Baltar's case, she couldn't, or wouldn't, take away a man's freedom...and possibly his life...without proof. She couldn't even force him to step down as Vice President, or prevent him from assuming the office of President if he were to somehow win the upcoming election, to be held a mere ten days from now.
Roslin looked at Adama. She knew that, if Adama had seen the visions as she had, he would have had no such scruples about dealing with Baltar. He had arrested Roslin herself and thrown her in the brig at one time, nearly sparking a civil war within the fleet. But Roslin, despite what many, such as Tom Zarek, thought of her, was a democrat. Democracy must be preserved, even in our present, dire situation, she thought. Adama must understand this. She would do everything in her power to make sure he did.
Adama looked back at the President. He smiled wanly, then looked over at Baltar.
"You may go, Doctor," he said. "We apologize for troubling you."
Baltar rose, affecting a dignified expression. "Thank you, Admiral," he said. Then he looked earnestly around the room. "I do hope you find who's responsible for this...atrocity," he said, then left the room. As he was walking down the pyramid-shaped corridors of the GALACTICA, heading back to his lab, he had to resist the urge to laugh out loud. Or maybe to skip along like a giddy schoolboy. The angel walked beside him.
"Sometimes you show me exactly why God picked you as his instrument," she said softly. "That was just...brilliant! I'm sorry I doubted you, Gaius."
"You should be," Baltar replied, a smug look on his face.
"Maybe I can make it up to you," the angel said. "Do you have to go back to your lab...now?" She playfully licked her lips. Baltar saw that and his knees went weak. He swayed a bit, but recovered quickly.
"Are you all right, Doctor?" said Cally Henderson, who happened to be passing him in the corridor at that moment.
Baltar dramatically wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his lab coat. "I'm not sure," he said.
"Can I escort you to sick bay?" Cally asked, a concerned look on her face.
"No, that won't be necessary," Baltar replied. "Thank you for your concern, but I think I'm just suffering from overwork and exhaustion." He smiled. "Actually, I think I'll take the rest of the afternoon off."
Cally smiled. "That's a good idea, Doctor," she said. "If you're sure you're okay," she said, then hurried off down the corridor.
The angel laughed as she disappeared from sight.. Baltar walked faster, headed now for his quarters.
Meanwhile, back in the briefing room, Adama, Roslin, Tigh and Archer considered what they had just heard.
"Do you believe him?" Archer asked.
"The story is plausible," Adama said. "That was an...unfortunate...time." He looked at Tigh, smiling. "Colonel Tigh did his best, but he found out just how difficult commanding this fleet actually is. Someone could easily have taken advantage of the situation to steal Doctor Baltar's warhead."
"You mean like that terrorist group...what was it called?" Tigh said.
"Demand Peace," Roslin said. "Yes, the story is all too plausible."
"So you do believe him," Archer said.
Roslin smiled, a cold, frosty smile that could easily have lowered the temperature in the room by a good ten degrees. "Not for a moment," she said. "But there's no proof." She sighed heavily, frustrated. "And a man is innocent until proven guilty, however much we may suspect him."
Archer nodded. He was glad to see that the rule of law still prevailed here, despite everything these people had gone through. Baltar's case was unclear, at best. Given the lack of evidence, Archer had to agree with Roslin's decision.
"All we can do is to keep digging," Roslin continued. She paused, and smiled again, her smile...if such was even possible...even frostier than before. "But I will tell you this...if we ever do find evidence of treachery on the part of the esteemed Doctor Baltar, I'll put him out of the airlock myself."