The Defector

By Jojobevco

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Battlestar Galactica story or characters. I do, however, reserve the rights for any characters I develop and the plot of this story.

Chapter 7

A Wedding, a Funeral and Everything in Between

0700 Hours

Battlestar Galactica (BSG-75)

The Morning of the attack on the Colonies, Galactica's Decommissioning Ceremony, and the Adama-Inviere Wedding

Commander William Adama walked the familiar path from his quarters to the CIC for the last morning, practicing the two most important speeches of his life.

"Because of you, Sarah, I laugh, I smile, I dare to dream again."

He looks over to the other speech, "The Cylon War is long over, yet we must not…"

Kara jogs up to him in the hallway.

"Morning, sir."

"Morning, Starbuck, mind if I ask why you're not dressed yet?"

"I wanted to get in my run first."

"The wedding starts in 90 minutes, Kara, you're the maid of honor so if your late, Sara will chew you up and spit you out the closest airlock."

"Yes, sir."

"Get dressed, Starbuck."

"Aye, aye, sir." She mocks a salute and runs off.

Adama enters the CIC and is greeted by Lt. Gaeta, with the daily stack of messages."

"Morning, sir! Comm traffic off the midwatch."

"Morning, Mr. Gaeta, anything interesting?"

"Mostly housekeeping, except for one that I thought was rather odd, Courier officer is overdue from the Armistice Station. They want a report on any FTL capable ships, in case someone has to go out there to get him."

"We're a bit busy today, Felix."

"Yes, sir, we are."

"Go get dressed lieutenant, the wedding's in 88 minutes."

"Yes, sir," he salutes and runs off.

0705 Hours

Major Sarah Inviere's Quarters

Battlestar Galactica (BSG-75)

The Morning of the attack on the Colonies, Galactica's Decommissioning Ceremony, and the Adama-Inviere Wedding

Sarah's "extra spacious" quarters had been taken over by a bridal party.

"Are you sure I look okay, Sharon?"

"Major, it's a dress uniform, there are only so many ways to wear one."

Starbuck runs in, "sorry I'm late, sir."

"Forget it Starbuck, grab a shower in my head and get dressed."

"Yes, sir."

Sarah started reviewing her wedding vows, "Bill, you have filled my world with meaning…"

The phone rang.

"Major Inviere."

"Major, the Secretary's ship just arrived."

"Thank you, Dee, I'll meet them when they land, now get down here and get dressed," she hung up and turned back to the note-card, "so much for practice."

0715 Hours

Colonial 715's Airlock

Battlestar Galactica (BSG-75)

The Morning of the attack on the Colonies, Galactica's Decommissioning Ceremony, and the Adama-Inviere Wedding

Sarah arrived at the airlock just as it opened, revealing Laura Roslin and Elosha, a priest.

"Laura," she ran and hugged the shorter woman.

"Sarah, oh it's good to see you!" Laura turned and introduced Elosha. "You remember Elosha?"

"Yes, we spoke on the phone a few weeks ago; thank you for doing this on such short notice. We've been a bit under the gun."

They both look down at her rather trim stomach.

"No! No, I'm not pregnant; we just wanted to get it done before the Galactica was decommissioned. I'll show you to the wardroom."

"Isn't it a bit small for a wedding?"

"It's a busy day; most of the crew can't make it. It's mostly going to be the wedding party and a few witnesses.

0830 Hours

The Adama-Inviere Wedding

The Wardroom

Battlestar Galactica (BSG-75)

The Morning of the attack on the Colonies and Galactica's Decommissioning Ceremony

Although the wedding was small in number, and simple; it was no less elegant. The wedding party and guest list consisted of a few, important, people.

The Bride and Groom: Major Sarah Inviere and Commander William Adama

Celebrant: Elosha

Parent-of-the-Bride (stand in): Secretary of Education Laura Roslin

The Maid of Honor: Lieutenant Kara Thrace

The Bridesmaids: Lieutenant Sharon Valerii, and Petty Officer First Class Anastasia Dualla

Best Man: Colonel Saul Tigh

Groomsmen: Lieutenant Felix Gaeta, and Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol

Guests: Major Sherman Cottle, Captain Leland Adama, and Mr. Billy Keikeya

The wedding started with a tearful Laura walking Sarah, in her dress uniform, down the Aisle, where the rest of the party was waiting. Then she took a seat next to Billy. Elsosha started

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today under the Lords of Kobol to celebrate the wedding of William and Sarah, two lovers who found themselves under the most unlikely of circumstances. They each have written their own vows, which they will recite before the gods and those gathered here today. Sarah will start first."

"Bill, you have filled by empty life with meaning. You have made me a happy and complete person. Thank you for taking me as I am; loving me, and welcoming me into your heart. I promise to always love , respect, honor, cherish and to be faithful and obedient to you forever. Today I choose you to be my husband, and commit myself to you for the rest of my life."

"Thank you Sarah, for those touching and poignant words, now, Bill?"

"Sarah, because of you, I dare to laugh, smile, and look forward in life again. I look forward with great joy to spending the rest of my life with you, caring for you, nurturing you, being there for you in all life has for us, and I vow to be true and faithful for as long as we both shall live."

"Thank you Bill. Now the rings, please." Kara and Saul handed the rings to Sarah and Bill respectively glared at each other and went back to their respective corners, "now Sarah, repeat after me. With his ring…"

"With this ring…"

"I be wed…"

"I be wed…"

"And now you Bill. With this ring…"

"With this ring…"

"I be wed…"

"I be wed…"

"Under the power vested in me by the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The kissed and the room clapped. Bill turned to them, "thank you for coming. Now, we have to get ready for the ceremony, dismissed."

After everyone congratulated the bride and groom they quickly left to handle the things for the afternoon.

Sarah was happy, but something felt off, it felt elusive. Her thoughts were interrupted by Bill.

"Sarah?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay, I've been trying to get your attention for a while."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Good, because we need to get ready."

"Oh, do we, I would think that we need to do something else first, something involving you, me and the wardroom table." She started nibbling on his ear. Bill gently pushed her away, chuckling and blushing.

"Sarah! As much as I would like to, we have a lot of things to do. Today, after the ceremony, I promise."

Sarah pouted, and turned to the CIC, "Fine, be that way, Mr. Adama."

"You also, Mrs. Adama."

"It's Inviere-Adama, Bill, after all, when the crew starts cursing you, I don't want to be involved."

He chuckles, "Good, now, I have to deal with my son."

Bill finds Lee in a nearby corridor.

"Lee!"

Lee turns around and sees him, "Commander."

"How are you?"

"Fine, I just saw my father get married to someone younger to be his daughter, who is slowly driving him insane. How about you?"

"Hey, don't pull this crap with me, Lee, I know your mother is getting married. If she can move on, then so can I. And she is not driving me insane."

"She is leading you to think she's a Cylon."

"At least tell me you moved your family to safety."

"No, I didn't, because I won't let my life be ruled by you!"

"I tried to warn you Lee."

"I have to suit up, by your leave, Commander."

Lee spun on his heel and left.

1400 Hours

Directly before the attack on the Colonies.

Kara Thrace sat in the brig, after punching out Saul Tigh again.

Boomer and Helo were piloting their raptor back to Caprica, for reassignment, this time, with out a squadron following them, however, they were being shadowed by two Cylons.

Saul Tigh was getting drunk.

Gina Inviere was doing work onboard Pegasus.

Galen Tyrol was refueling Mark II Vipers after the ceremony.

Laura Roslin was contemplating her cancer.

Billy Keikeya and Anastasia Dualla were contemplating each other.

Lee Adama was fuming at his father.

Gianne, the future wife of Lee Adama was walking along the Riverwalk, smiling at her belly.

And Bill and Sarah Adama were now resting in their marriage bed after a very, ah, busy, day.

Then the Cylons showed up with a wedding present, and it wasn't a china set.

1435 Hours

Commander's Quarters

Battlestar Galactica

35 minutes after the Attack on the Colonies.

Commander Adama's phone started buzzing, he sighed, pulled himself out of bed while Major Inviere-Adama stirred before going back to bed. He answered, "this better be good."

Gaeta winced, even though what he had was the most important message he ever gave the Commander in three years, "Sorry to disturb you, Sir, but we picked up just picked up a message from Fleet Headquarters, it…It was transmitted in the clear, sir."

Adama wanted to shout, oh frack, instead what came out was, "In the clear? What does it say?"

"Attention all Colonial Units: Cylon attack underway, this is not a drill."

"Oh, frack."

"Indeed, sir. Shall I go to condition one?"

"Yeah, the Major and I will be on the CIC in a few minutes, I really wish I had held off on blowing up that ordnance now. Get the XO started on the latest plot to Ragnar."

"Aye, sir."

Bill hung up the phone and walked back to Sarah he shook her awake.

"Huh, what is it?"

"It's happening."

Sarah was now fully awake, "what is?"

"The Cylons are attacking."

"Oh, Frack."

"My thoughts exactly, let's go."

After getting dressed, they raced to the CIC, halfway there the klaxons started.

"Action stations, action stations, set condition one throughout the ship, this is not a drill. Repeat: Action stations, action stations, set condition one throughout the ship."

The Commander and Second Officer of the newly recomissioned Galactica started running. They reached the CIC moments before the XO who suddenly shouted what was on everyone's mind.

"Oh, frack!"

"That's the statement of the day, Mr. Gaeta, sitrep please?"

"All stations answering action stations sir,"

"Good, Colonel."

"Sir!"

"Get started on a plot to Ragnar."

"Yes sir," he went off barking orders and grabbing charts from under the command table.

"Tactical, get a plot of the solar system."

"Yes, sir."

Sarah quietly went over to Dee, "Dee, send the following message in the clear to Colonial Fleet Intelligence. Message reads: We told you so, Commander Adama and Major Inviere-Adama. Message ends."

"Yes ma'am, in the clear?"

"It doesn't matter if Colonial Intelligence actually gets the message, but I want everyone else to."

Dee smirked, "Yes ma'am, by the way, how was it?"

"Fantastic, Dee, fantastic."

Meanwhile, Commander Adama had just finished addressing the ship.

"And will someone please get Starbuck out of the brig already!"

An hour later, things were going very well, considering. They were almost ready to jump to Ragnar, a formal CAP had been set up and things were proceeding smoothly, at least much more smoothly than on other ships. Petty Officer Dualla was making a presentation to the Adamas and Lieutenant Gaeta about a series of equipment failures.

"The important thing is the number of failures, sirs, we have Battlestars losing all power like someone flicked a switch."

The three officers turned to each other and said at the same time, "The CNP Program!"

Commander Adama turned to Lieutenant Gaeta, "Mr. Gaeta, make sure that we have erased all copies of the CNP from our hard drives, and that the ones on the remaining Raptors are taken care of as well."

"Aye, sir." He left.

Sarah turned to Dee and asked her a question that had been nagging her, "Dee, were there any reports of FTL Jump Errors."

"No ma'am not one."

"Well frack me," she turned to Dualla, "thank you Petty Officer, return to your duties."

"Sirs." She saluted and left.

Sarah turned to Bill with a quizzical expression on her face, "what do you think?"

"I honestly don't know."

Sarah then turned and looked at the CIC console. Bill noticed this and looked at it also.

"What, what is it?"

"There is something off about that console." Suddenly it clicked. "Bill, come with me." She ran off not waiting for him to follow.

"Captain Kelly, you have the watch."

"Aye, sir."

He then ran off after Sarah, eventually following her to her quarters.

"Sarah what is…"

"Shh."

She pulls out the FTL Jump Inverter and pulls something off the end.

"Look familiar?"

Bill looks at it.

"Isn't this the same as the thing underneath the Galactica's Dradis display?"

"Yep, and I still have mine, so that means that…"

"There's another Cylon onboard."

"Correct."

"What are we going to do?"

"Wait for the time being until they make themselves known. In the meantime have some members of the whistleblower committee remove the other one and deactivate it."

The phone rang. Bill answered it.

"Adama."

"Bill you better get up here."

"Why, what is it?"

"Um, an urgent message came in. We lost at Picon."

"Right I'm on my way there, Isolate the Dradis console and remove the device below it that's not supposed to be there. Use extreme caution."

"Aye."

Bill hung up and turned to Sarah, "We lost at Picon."

They ran to the CIC for the second time that day.

When they got there Bill promptly took command of the Fleet and ordered surviving ships to Ragnar. Of course then he got a call from his mother-in-law.

"Sir, there's an incoming message from the President of the Colonies. They're requesting our assistance at their current position with rescue operations."

"She's what? Are they in verbal communication range?"

"Yes, sir."

"Get them on the horn now, Dee."

"Yes, sir."

"Colonial 715 this is Galactica, over."

"Colonial One, copies."

"Colonial One, Galactica Actual would like to speak with the President."

"Put him on."

Bill picked up the phone. "Hello, Lee."

"Commander,"

Bill was about to wait for some sort of admission that he was right from his son, but then didn't bother to.

"Did you get my message?"

"Yes."

"Is your ship's FTL drive working?"

"Yes.'

"Then I am ordering you to jump immediately to Ragnar."

"Acknowledge…receipt of message."

"Receipt of Message? What does that mean?"

"It means I heard you."

"Lee, your taking orders from a school teacher. Ouch, that hurt Sarah,"

Sarah had just head slapped him.

"New wife doesn't like you putting down her friend does she, Dad?"

"Nope."

Lieutenant Gaeta shouted, "New Dradis Contact. Enemy fighters inbound toward the civilian ships."

"Lee! You have enemy fighters inbound, get out of there! Lee! Lee!"

The Dradis screen fizzled.

"Detonation in the fifty-kiloton range."

Bill and Sarah felt like they had the wind knocked out of them. The only family they had left was dead. They went over and sat in the corner of the CIC. Saul took one look at them and sighed, "Continue Jump Prep."

A while later, a survey team from Galactica, accompanied by Commander Adama entered the space station, encountering a strange man, Leoben Conoy, an "arms merchant." Unfortunately he and Adama got trapped from an explosion and had to find another way around the station.

Meanwhile, Sarah was walking the ship in an effort to keep the death of Laura Roslin off her mind. She sighed and turned another corridor, suddenly running into Laura Roslin, Lee Adama, Billy Keikeya, Gaius Baltar (who was looking at her like she had two heads) and Aaron Doral (that stupid public relations guy, who looked really angry for some reason).

"Oh, great, now I'm hallucinating."

"You're not hallucinating Sarah, it's me."

"But how, the nuke-"

"Was a fake, sir," interjected Lee Adama, "I used Galactica's pulse generators to simulate a successful nuclear attack."

"You mean that trick actually worked?"

"Yep," Lee was quite proud of himself."

"Well someone's going to have to reprogram the simulators."

"It won't work again ma'am, the Cylons returned and nuked everyone without a FTL Drive."

"Damn."

"Where's Commander Adama?" Laura asked.

"On Ragnar supervising the supply loading. You can see Commander Tigh in the wardroom."

"Yes, thank you, Sar- I mean, Major Adama."

"Inviere-Adama, especially considering the fact that we now have three Adamas on this ship."

Everyone nodded and went toward the CIC/Wardroom, while Sarah continued her walk. She hadn't gone five steps before she was slammed into a wall. By Aaron Doral.

"What the frack are you doing? This ship should have been destroyed hours ago! Why is it still around? I knew you Sixes were so incompetent, you can never do anything right, except frack people, but then you screw that up by becoming attached to them."

Suddenly it clicked in Sarah's head; this man was a Cylon, A Number Five specifically.

She threw him off her, kicked him into the other side of the corridor, threw him on the ground, held down his left arm, and dragged his right across his back at a rather uncomfortable angle. The commotion brought several people running, including a few marines. Sarah turned her head to them, "Arrest this man, charge him with willful collaboration with the enemy."

"Yes, ma'am." The marines take him down to the brig.

Doral became nervous at this protesting his innocence and shouting at the top of his lungs, "She's a Cylon, she's a Cylon!"

"So are you," she muttered. No one heard her.

Meanwhile, Saul Tigh was dealing with another problem. Gaius Baltar.

"So, what?"

"So, what? I tell you that the Cylons have achieved human form, that one of them is currently serving as your second officer, and all you can say is 'so what!'

"Tell me something I don't know, Doctor. A month ago Major Sarah Inviere-Adama warned us about this attack, warned us that this would happen. I along with several other members of the crew have known about the Major's true nature for a while now. She has been very cooperative. Now, I'd ask that you keep this quiet until we have time to divulge it to everyone. Understand, Doctor?"

"Yes, I understand, perfectly."

"By the way, how did you come across this information?"

"I've met a woman just like you. She, uh, worked on the CNP project. There was something always off about her. She flat out told me that I was a Cylon, trying to guilt me I suppose, seeing that it was my program that did this. When I saw the major, I knew she had to be one as well."

"Okay, thank you, Doctor." The President's Chief Scientific Advisor turned tail and ran, from a conversation that went no way like it was supposed to.

When it was all said and done: the body count ratcheted up, enemy suppression barrages and firing solutions, combat landings and Starbuck's version of flying. All was quiet. Funeral arrangements began. However a final meeting of the Whistleblower Committee occurred, plus two new members. Lee Adama, who was in a serious depression, that had forced him to reconcile with his father, who took him back with wide open arms; and Laura Roslin, who was finding out that the daughter she never had, never had a mother at all.

"So let me get this strait, you're a Cylon?"

"Yes, Madam President."

"The Cylons look like us now?"

"Yes, Madam President."

"The Cylons that have eradicated the human race?"

"Yes, Madam President."

"And you don't agree with their plan?"

"No, Madam President, I do not."

"And you tried to warn people?"

"Yes, Madam President."

"Just one last question, What is all this 'Madam President' crap about?"

"Well, I-thought- that is-"

"You thought that just because you were a Cylon I wouldn't care about you or like you anymore?"
"Correct, Madam President."

"You've always known you were a Cylon, correct?"

"Yes, Madam President."

"Yet you made your own choices, or at least you appeared to, we'll leave that up to the philosophers."

"To the best of my knowledge, yes, Madam President."

"I like you for who you are Sarah Inviere-Adama, This doesn't change any of that." She then went to hug the younger woman.

"Thank you, Laura."

"Now, go out there and knock them into a coma! Figuratively, of course."

Sarah smiled a real and true smile, and mock saluted, "Sir, yes, sir!"

And so, that's how Earth didn't become the biggest bombshell on the agenda at the funeral.

After Bill had finished his speech, Sarah took the podium.

"Hello, For those of you that don't know me, I am Major Sarah Inviere-Adama, Second Officer of the Battlestar Galactica and loving wife of Commander William Adama, as of, she glanced at her watch, 36 hours ago. Today I come to you with an important announcement. The Command Staff of Galactica has known for the past month that an attack by the Cylons was imminent."

The crowd started murmuring.

"That is why we have been putting this crew through more drills and more training flights in the past month than the past twenty-five years. We also discovered a disturbing revelation about the Cylons. They have evolved during the past forty years."

More murmuring.

"They now look, and feel human."

Murmuring escalates to shouting. Sarah holds up her hand asking for quiet.

"You may be wondering how we know this. We know this is true because-I am a Cylon."

Dead Silence.

"That's right, I am a member of the Cylon race. However, I am not with the Cylons. I am Sarah Inviere-Adama: Loving Wife and Officer of the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am doesn't matter. Because that is who choose to be!"

AN: Please Review, Thanks to those who have.

No one even tried to guess the meaning of "The System is Blinking Red." The correct answer is that it is a phrase used in the 9/11 commission report to describe the failure of the Intelligence Community to stop 9/11.

Season one will be covered in three chapters: The next chapter will cover the episodes, '33, Water, and Litmus'

The Wedding vows used in this chapter come from the website "My Wedding Vows"