Warnings and Disclaimers see chapter 1
I noticed there are still people reading this. Would love to hear from you. If you've read this before, let me know what you think of the changes.
'
Part Three: Killing Cylons
'
Chapter 8
'
Gina sat at a table in Galactica's pilot lounge and poked at something that looked as if it had been scratched from the bottom of a refrigerator. Unfortunately after twenty hours of intensive training she needed to eat it. This, such as it was, would be the last meal for military personal. From now on they'd have to stick with stims - though someone suggested paper. Gina wanted to read the raptor manual, then maybe she'd eat it. It galled her that Racetrack insisted she proved that the best way to detect a Cylon was to see if they could trap a landing.
Her break would only last a half hour. There was no way to go back to her cell and eat, which explained why they let her in the pilots lounge. What was harder to understand was why she was being left alone. She had expected marines at her heels, but once she stepped out of the raptor the marines just disappeared. Those she saw stayed back and seemed to ignore her.
At first it had felt good walking around unconstrained. Then she began to wonder what the humans were up to. She supposed it could be an outbreak of stupidity, but she doubted it. She sensed too much hostility to believe anyone suddenly trusted her simply because the Admiral let her out of the brig. Her initial sense of liberation had given way to anxiety that continued to grow. Was this a test with unknown parameters that she would be airlocked for failing? She needed to figure out what game was being played.
She surveyed the room, most of the other pilots were sitting around with nothing but crumbs on their plates. The lack of food didn't seem to affect anyone's confidence in Adama and Roslin's ability to lead them through this latest disaster. The pilots were interacting playfully or smirking with amusement at the antics of others. Athena and Racetrack sat with their heads stuck together as they talked quietly. They began laughing riotously and Gina experienced a deep ache. Somehow in her cell it was less painfully obvious how alone she really was. Mathias kept her from feeling abandoned and almost always brought in her meals. Gina poked at the scraps on her plate wishing she was with her now.
"
"""""""""
Mathias sat on Gina's cot and stared at the blank wall. It was the solitude she had wanted, but it unsettled her on another level. She'd come to look forward to her time visiting this place, but without Gina, it was lifeless.
Could the Old Man be right? Gina was a Cylon, an enemy, a friend...and what else?
She had pushed buttons, tested limits and tried everyone's patience, always skirting the line that would force them to retaliate. Mathias got that Gina was angry and bored. It was how she had managed to blow off Gina's machinations. They had become a game between them until biting words gentled and only a sparing playfulness remained. The real mystery was why Gina co-operated as much as she did. Mathias had never asked. She wasn't sure whether she feared Gina would lie or tell a truth she didn't want to hear.
Following orders had led Mathias to the discovery that she could speak to Gina of the past in ways she couldn't with others. Gina's eyes never rolled or glazed over. She hadn't sought an explanation for why she had opened up to a Cylon to heal from her losses. She only knew it had worked. And much of her armor had been discarded in the process.
She'd eventually slipped and revealed her present frustrations with Colonel Tigh. She had expected Gina, with her hatred of all things military, to jump on it and use it to undermine her dedication. She didn't. She gave advice instead, good advice.
After being under Athena's command, Mathias believed a Cylon could be trusted, but Gina was no Athena. Gina had acted ruthlessly and paid too high a price for it. Mathias couldn't blame her for shooting Cain and hating so many, but that only made the possibility of complete trust more distant.
Mathias glanced around the empty cell and felt vaguely ill. Worrying about trusting Gina was a joke. Mathias had used her orders to keep her head up ass. Her wife would have called her denial 'a stunning display of mental obstruction from the emotionally constipated.'
The sad reality was that if Gina escaped back to her people, she would be devastated. And if she remained in the brig it would be worse. Mathias could no longer deny that she was a jailer who couldn't look at her prisoner without wanting her. She hoped her wife's soul remained joyful in Elysian despite who was claiming her heart.
'
"""""""""
Gina finished her imitation of a meal as slowly as possible while she had scanned through the flight manual. It was the same as the one in her memory, just reiterating Racetrack's instructions in more complex terminology.
A group of pilots sat down at the table next to her. She could feel their stares, but refused to look up. The manual was spared from being consumed. She pretended to read.
"Hey, look. It's the Cylon bitch that murdered the admiral."
Unable to ignore the loud words, Gina's head jerked up. Tarkas from the Pegasus was glowering at her. When they met he had pinned her against a computer console, said his name meant collision, and that he was sure glad he'd collided with her. She'd said no to him three different ways before Belzen came around the corner and angrily ordered the pilot to report to his office. Belzen had assured her she would not be bothered by him again.
"I can't believe that Adama let this thing out of the brig," he bellowed. "Such a warm frakable blow up doll. Maybe it offered to bend over for him, make him feel like he's got balls."
Gina's anger flared but she kept her reaction in check. She heard chairs scrape back as offended pilots stood up. Two pilots moved away from Tarkas' table and the two who remained looking around warily.
"Awww, come on, people. We're supposed to uphold the principles of colonial society with freedom of speech like our glorious prophet Roslin wants us to. And I say we can't trust this thing." He pointed a finger at Gina and then turned to Athena. "And we can't trust that thing. But the old man not only lets toasters run loose, he gives them raptors. Cain kept machines where they belong. But she was a real admiral, not a glorified crossing guard, promoted by a drugged out school teacher."
He was provoking everyone. At least half a dozen enraged pilots stood with clenched fists. The two who had left his table closed in behind her. Tarkas grinned at her smugly and she understood. They could get away with killing her in a brawl.
Burning anger hardened to icy clarity. She sprang up and slammed her hands down on the table. Everyone's attention turned to her. She moved to put a table between her and the encroaching pilots. She spoke lowering her voice with every word. "What makes you think Cain was better?"
"Cain made you fear us. She would never have to let the battleships drop to half strength. And she would have kicked your frakking toaster asses at New Caprica."
"She killed her XO in the middle of CIC because he objected to a suicidal attack on a fortified outpost. She took food, meds and FTL-drives from fifteen ships and left twelve thousand humans to die. She wouldn't have kicked anyone's ass on New Caprica. She'd have left everyone to die and never looked back."
She backed up, but stopped at the door. "How has the crew of Galactica managed to survive without becoming a bunch of murderous sociopaths?" She spun and left as Lee Adama entered. Two very relieved marines followed her. The marines with Lee were tense and unsure. There was nothing worse than being a marine with orders not to shoot.
'
"""""""""
Mathias entered the hangar bay. Overcrowded with civilians being herded, deck hands fussing over ships and pilots impatiently waiting, it was even more chaotic than when she had left. She followed the movement of Chief Tyrol as he waded through, barking orders. A tall blonde circled a raptor. She made her own way through the crowd and stood silently, resisting the urge to completely close the distance between them. When Gina pulled her head out of the port thruster Mathias smiled. "Hey."
Gina took a step toward her then stopped abruptly. "Hi."
Gina's initial smile had disappeared. She looked miserable. Mathias tried to ease the tension by widening her grin. "I heard about your little speech."
Gina stiffened. "Yeah? Is the airlock picked out?"
After a beat Mathias realized Gina was serious. "No! What made you think that?"
Gina began to rub her neck. "Arguing with pilots, criticizing humans, it isn't exactly what I was let out to do."
Mathias stopped herself from reaching out and settled back on her heels. "You said what most of them would have if they'd been thinking with anything but their fists."
Gina hugged herself. "Nobody minds that I'm the one who said it?"
Mathias tried to convey all she felt. "You were amazing. It could have gotten ugly enough to lose pilots from the roster. Fischer and Harder said you handled it perfectly."
"That's...not the reaction I expected." Gina berated herself. She couldn't relax her suspicions and desperately wanted to get rid of those last inches Mathias kept between them. She began to pace instead.
Mathias looked on helplessly. Gina had reverted to the jittery body language of the past. "Did what Tarkas said trigger something? Are you okay?"
Mathias' distress kept Gina from confiding all her suspicions. She didn't want her in the middle of this. "I'm alright, Gunny. I'm just nervous. Walking around the hangar makes me expect I'll get clubbed any second. I never thought I'd miss having marines watch everything I do."
Mathias' mouth dropped open and her eyes filled with pain. "Gina, I'm so sorry, I didn't think."
Gina froze. She had gone from being nebulously nervous to pointedly afraid. "Why are you apologizing, what's wrong?"
"Me. I'm what's wrong. Marines are still guarding you. We've just been hanging back trying to blend in so we don't draw attention to you. I should have told you. I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you feel free. I didn't mean for you to feel unsafe."
Gina lost her breath as everything fell into place. "I did. I did feel free." She laughed piteously. "Then I convinced myself it was a trap."
Pain and sorrow were etched across both their faces. Mathias limited herself to the assurances she was most accustomed to. "You're not alone, Gina. We're still protecting that door."
"I...Thank you." Gina hoped her eyes conveyed more than her words. "I have to make the pre-flight check."
"Actually you have to report to the briefing room and I have to do crowd control, but I'll be picking you up when you get back. Come." Mathias tossed her head toward the briefing room. "I'll walk you part way."
Before they parted, Mathias decided Gina needed reassurance more than she needed circumspection. She reached for her hand and held it. "Stay safe."
For a moment Gina was too shocked to respond. Recovering, she squeezed Mathias' hand, "I will."
A blush spread over Mathias' face as she held Gina's gaze and returned the pressure. Gina was amazed. The possibility that they would act on their attraction was exhilarating. Then Mathias' professional demeanor descended and she moved away.
TBC...
