Reversus Patria
Part: 11
Rating: PG, maybe be PG-13 later on
paring: ensemble cast
Summary: continuation of Faoi Dheireadh
Note: I do want to thank AlbertG, James Axelrad, Moggie, Becky, Sue, and Rap541 for their expertise. Without their input this story would not be what it is today. Be warned, this takes place sometime near the end of season two. Anything after Epiphanies are conjectures from the author's warped mind. . . This is a sequel of Faoi Dheireadh.
Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and its characters are creations of Glen Larson and copywrited by Universal Studios. I make no money off this.
Colonial speech: " "
English speech: ' '
Chapter Eleven
Goren looked at his watch once again. The agent knew Admiral Adama would be there sometime soon. He just wasn't sure when. And he wasn't quite sure where he would be coming from. Admiral Jackson had mentioned to him that the Aurorian was looking over the information that his people had given him for the two battlestars. A short time later the door opened and Admiral Adama stepped inside.
The older military officer was wearing his blue day uniform with few, if any, rank pins. He was also shorter, but he carried himself with an air of confidence. Something that only years of military service created. "I am sorry to keep you waiting," he said in a gruff voice.
"That's all right, sir," Goren answered, trying to put the Aurorian admiral at ease. "I'm here because I would like your permission to talk to one of your officers."
Adama blinked in surprised. "All right," he said slowly. "Is this because of what happened to Captain O'Neill?"
"Yes, sir."
Adama's eyes narrowed slightly, "You cannot unless I am present."
"I expected nothing less." Goren hesitated for a moment before continuing, "We also have what is called the 'Miranda' rights. The person I would like to question does not have to answer anything unless their attorney is present." The words seemed to surprise Adama.
"I don't know what you mean by 'Miranda', but I do understand about civil liberties. Where will this take place?"
Goren looked out the window of the conference room and into the bullpen. The other CID officers were busy with their own cases. "If you prefer, we can have it take place here." He indicated the conference room they were sitting in at the present time. "Or we can have it in one of the interrogation rooms."
For a moment Adama leaned back a bit, as if thinking about his options. He was about to speak when Robert continued, "Everything is recorded, and we place a high priority on not forcing a confession. I'm mainly here to find out what happened, and to hopefully not have it happen again."
Adama mulled the information over for a bit before making his decision. "All right, but I want to know what this 'Miranda' is before you talk to my officer."
Goren readily agreed. "That's fine." The CID agent reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his wallet. He then pulled out a small old style business card then put the wallet back where he found it. "Sir, the Miranda rights are the legal rights of a person being either arrested or detained to remain silent in order to avoid possible self-incrimination, and to have an attorney present during the questioning."
"Sounds like the 23rd," Adama said softly.
"Excuse me?"
"The 23rd Amendment to the Articles of Colonization states that we don't have to, or will, incriminate ourselves," the Aurorian explained.
Interesting. "The USA has had that for many years." He didn't flinch when he felt Adama's eyes bore into him.
"Who do you need to speak with?" Adama finally asked
Goren looked down at the papers in front of him before answering, "Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla."
"Frak," Adama muttered. That was the one person he least expected.
"She was the one seen near the Liaison's residence during the time in question."
Adama was silent for a short time. "An attorney of our own choosing?"
"If one cannot be afforded. And if it ever does go to trial, then a jury of her peers will be selected."
Adama nodded thoughtfully. "We have the same thing."
"Good," Goren nodded. "Let me tell you, that makes it a whole lot easier."
The Aurorian let a flicker of a smile cross his face before it disappeared. "I will bring her here."
"She's not under arrest, only a person of interest." The agent wanted to make sure that Adama knew she wasn't the only one they had their sights on. He wasn't about to tell him that she was their best bet at the moment.
Adama knew that Goren was trying to show that Dee wasn't the one they were looking for, but he could tell that wasn't the case.
"Thank you, sir," Goren said as he rose to his feet. He knew the admiral would be back in a few hours at most.
The Aurorian admiral now stood outside Dee's civilian residence. It was one of the prefab modular homes, most of the military personnel still used the supplied housing. If they had not been offered solid shelter, he knew they would have all been in tents. It also bothered him that of all the people in the small city, it had to be Dee. She was family to him.
Adama finally knocked on the door. What surprised him was how distraught she looked when she opened the door. "Dee?" he asked.
Without a word she let him in to the small house. He knew she was scared, it came off her in waves.
"I'm sorry," she said, rubbing her face as she sat down on the couch.
"What is it?" he asked as he looked at her. It bothered him that she didn't look at him. It seemed like she was avoiding eye contact on purpose.
"I, I'm scared," she stuttered as she pressed a few sheets of paper into his hands. "I haven't looked at it yet, and I'm scared of what it might show."
Adama glanced down and read the top of the page. It didn't take long for him to realize what it was he was holding. It was one of the Cylon tests, but she had not opened it up to read the results. "The civilian authorities want to talk to you."
"I'm under arrest." She closed her eyes.
"If nothing happened, then you have nothing to worry about." He stood up while continuing, "But I do have to bring you in."
"Yes, sir," she slowly stood up. "I'm ready."
Adama opened up the test results while Dee was getting her jacket, the weather had cooled down substantially since they had first arrived. His attitude towards her changed dramatically when he read the results. Without saying a word, he pulled her out of the house and placed her in the waiting vehicle. The trip back to CID's headquarters was strained, and when they reached it Adama was in the mindset of not even going inside. She was the agent's problem now.
"Please?" Dee said with tears in her eyes. She knew what the results were just by Adama's change of attitude.
The older officer remained quiet as they reached the office building. Goren knew that he was returning, so was waiting outside for both officers. A surprised look crossed the agent's face when she was dumped out of the vehicle and left behind. Before he could move, the vehicle had left.
'What?' Goren asked in confusion. This was not expected at all. The woman that was left behind was obviously distraught. "Ma'am?" he asked.
She spun around fear clearly showing in her eyes. "Please. . .I, I didn't. . ."
"Not here," he cut her off. "There are some things I need to tell you before you even say a word." Adama might not have realized it, but everyone that lived on the planet had certain rights. There was information filtering down about other Cylons that were being held against their will. If the information was correct, then the Aurorian and possibly Pict governments were not acting with the best will of the planet's population. It was his job to make sure that the law was followed.
As she followed him into the building, she rubbed her stomach. "This isn't supposed to happen," she mumbled through her tears. Goren soon had her waiting in a small conference room. As she sat there waiting she was so frightened about what happened and what might happen that she had to clench her jaws to keep her teeth from chattering.
"Don't worry, everything is all right," Goren said gently as he closed the door.
Dee jumped at the sound of the door closing then fumbled, "I, I'm sorry."
Goren nodded while sitting down. "The first thing I want to tell you is that you do have rights." He pulled out a small card and let her know her rights within the Avalonian judicial system.
"I don't think I will be offered the services of an attorney," she said forlornly.
"Ma'am, I'm not trying to get a confession out of you. I just want to know what you remember."
"Remember?" she asked. "I don't remember anything. I was walking home, and then I found myself in another part of the city." Dee put her face in her hands.
Goren looked at her for a few minutes before responding, "Is this why I found you with the one known Cylon in Aurora?"
Dee seemed to contemplate before answering, "Yes. She told me that Boomer had the same experiences."
"Boomer?"
"Yes," Dee nodded. "Boomer was one of the clones of Cylon model number 8. That's all I really know."
Interesting. "Thank you," he answered. "You've been a big help to the investigation so far."
As he got up she asked, "Will I be staying here?"
"Just wait here for a few minutes. I'll let you know." Goren nodded as he left the room and gently closed the door.
Never in her life did she feel so alone. Dee put her face in her hands again. Everything was crashing down around her and there was nothing left. She knew if she set foot anywhere close to Aurora City she would be arrested and then executed; no questions asked.
Goren went over to his supervisor while keeping watch over Dee through the windows. The Aurorian had her face in her hands again. It surprised him to find one of the assistant DA's talking with his supervisor. Her presence would be a big help in the investigation.
'What have you found out?'
Goren looked at the attorney for a moment before turning his attention back to his super. 'Ms. Gorsuch, I think it would be good to have her evaluated. She's showing signs of having acute disassociative disorder.'
'So, if she's guilty you think it could have been during an event?'
'She said she has no memory of what happened. I tend to believe her.' He looked back towards the conference room for a second then back to the two people in front of him. 'She also believes that she is a Cylon.'
Major Lee Adama rubbed the sweat off his face with a towel. It had been a long few days. Days that he hoped to see the end of sooner rather than later. It was this last battle with the Cylons that made him start thinking about his future. It felt like he had been either fighting or on the run for years. He was tired of it and began seriously thinking about his future in something other than the military.
He was surprised to see how active the gym was so soon after action stations, general quarters he reminded himself. It didn't surprise him to see Admiral Orbach frequenting the facilities. It showed him that the older Terran wanted to make sure that he stayed in shape while on board. This time, though, he heard the punching bag being liberally hit. Out of curiosity he got up off the bench he was seated at and wandered over. He wasn't that surprised to find it was Kara.
Coming from the opposite direction, he grabbed the bag to hold it steady for her.
"Good," she muttered while throwing another punch at the bag. She glanced at him while using a gloved hand to brush her hair out of her face. "I'm envisioning that frakwit Logan."
"Is it working?" Lee asked, somewhat amused. At least she was taking her aggressions out on a punching bag rather than Logan himself.
"For now," she grunted while hitting it again. "If I ever see him again, it'll be too soon!" Kara growled as she continued to hit the bag.
"If you do see him, don't egg him on."
Starbuck flashed a grin, "What? Can't handle it?"
"I don't want to explain to my father why you were in hack the whole trip back," Lee countered. His words had the sobering effect on her he was counting on. "Listen, as soon as all this is over, I'm seriously thinking about leaving the military."
"C'mon, Lee. If you do, how will you keep yourself entertained?" Kara asked in amusement then threw another punch at the punching bag.
"I have my ways," he answered with a somewhat amused grin. Then out of habit he looked up at the clock. "We've got an hour before that refresher training session Orbach wants us to go through."
Kara pulled off the boxing gloves and grabbed a towel to wipe her face and neck. "Did he say where it would be?"
"Yeah. Dirty shirt ward room. He didn't say who would be heading up the session."
"If it's my luck, it'll be Logan," Kara muttered as she followed Lee out of the gym and back towards their quarters.
One hour later they entered the designated ward room, only to find it devoid of everyone except Logan and Willson.
"I knew it," she muttered while glaring at Logan.
Lee spoke up before Kara could do anything else, 'Lieutenant Willson, why are you here?'
Willson looked from the Aurorians to Logan and back again, 'To be referee if need be.' He went over to Logan and whispered, 'Sir, the Admiral is watching this on closed circuit. Don't make a bigger ass out of yourself than you already have.'
'I know,' Logan seemed somewhat apologetic. He took a few steps in Kara's direction before speaking, 'Just because I don't like you doesn't mean that we can't work together.'
The Aurorian seemed to mull it over for a minute, 'Same here.'
Logan backed up and continued in a little bit louder voice, 'You're here because Admiral Orbach saw the need for both of you to have a refresher course in how our computer systems work. Just because the Cylons shove a virus through our data streams doesn't mean that we will be crippled.'
'How come? If the Cylons send us a frakkin' virus, they can easily shut down the system,' Kara countered. She truly didn't remember what they had told here early on.
'Because each system is separate. We can only access certain information from certain terminals and computers.' He leaned over the table Thrace, we learned our lesson going up against the Martoks.'
Kara's eyes narrowed for a moment before speaking, 'No networks?'
'No, we have networks. It's just that only relevant systems are networked together. From what I've heard and read, your computer systems had everything networked together. That's a fuckup waiting to happen, and whoever designed the system had to have known how vulnerable it was.'
Lee sighed. 'At the time it was touted as a breakthrough in computer design.'
'Designed to be easily broken into. Anyone with any know-how in computers can easily hack into a single networked system.'
TBC…..
