Chapter 20
The hours following Blondie's escape bid were the longest of Caroline's life. The base was in a complete lockdown with extra marines sent in and General Howell had promptly removed Simms from active duty, no-one had seen him since.
Caroline had spent at least two hours explaining why she had not separated Blondie and Blue Eyes straight away. She had been honest in her response, stating that their time together was being recorded and studied but also that they deserved some time together.
They were now about to reconvene in order to discuss their prisoners' proposals. About an hour ago Blue Eyes had requested to speak to Ford stating that they were willing to co-operate and discuss their presence on the planet, but with a number of conditions attached...
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Six hours earlier
Caroline watched on as Blondie and Blue Eyes embraced, they had missed each other. She felt the guilt eating away at her for separating them and for taking them away from what she guessed was their children. Blondie pulled her head away slightly then placed a soft kiss on Blue Eyes' lips before unhooking her arms from around his head. Blue Eyes smiled and removed his own cuffed hands; he then realigned a stray clump of Blondie's long hair and stroked it back into the correct place.
Even though Caroline had been studying this couple for a long time now, she still did not know a lot about them. Her instinct told her, however, that these two were very much in love and completely devoted to each other. It was lovely to see and something Caroline longed for herself.
Ford lightly placed his hand on Caroline's shoulder sending small chills down her spine. He too was looking down at the couple in front of them. After a few moments Blondie and Blue Eyes stood slowly and faced them. Caroline found herself wondering if they were trying to guess what sort of people they were, if they too were a couple. They all looked each other over, as the marines around them observed with their guns ready.
It was Ford who dared to speak first, "do you still need some ice for that eye?" he said facing Blondie and indicating his own eye.
Blondie looked puzzled for a moment until the words were translated, and then cleared her throat slightly before speaking, "yes, please."
Ford grabbed the ice pack and held it out towards her. Blondie looked briefly towards Blue Eyes and shrugged her shoulders before walking over and taking the pack from his hand. She held it to her eye and then hopped back up onto her bed. Blue Eyes walked over to stand by her side.
Caroline gestured towards Ford with her head, telling him to follow her out of the room, which he did after ordering the marines to keep a close guard on their guests.
"What do we do now?" asked Caroline when they were out of the room.
"I have to put them down in the basement for now," replied Ford and upon seeing the sad look take over Caroline's face added, "Look Carry, I'm sorry but I have no choice. The powers that be are going to go fucking nuts when they find out what happened, and believe me they will find out. They'll take Simms away and conduct a full investigation."
"Take him where?"
Ford didn't want to answer her question; he couldn't answer as it was classified. One thing was certain, Caroline would probably never see Simms again, and Simms would probably never see freedom again. He would be debriefed, censured and then taken overseas. Ford was more concerned about what was going to happen to Blondie, but at the moment he knew she was too much of an asset to ever be "disappeared."
Ford walked reluctantly back into the room that temporarily held Blondie and Blue Eyes and said to the marines, knowing full well that his words would be translated, "marines, put our guests into full leg chains and take them down to the basement cells immediately."
Blue Eyes spun around straight away as the translation came through and stood resolutely in front of his wife, guarding her. But Blondie reached her arm out.
"Lee," she said, and then added "don't."
Blue Eyes stood to the side and held out his hands as Blondie did the same. The marines walked up to them both with caution, with back-up marines standing close by with guns at the ready. They proceeded in placing leg chains on them both and then attached the leg chains to the handcuffs. This way everyone was assured that their guests would not be making another escape bid any time soon.
Caroline watched sadly as Blondie and Blue Eyes were taken out of the room and guided down the corridor by the marines. Blue Eyes was walking slightly ahead and seemed calm, Blondie however seem agitated but she kept looking straight ahead. Ford typed in a security code on the elevator doors, which opened moments later, revealing a large rectangular space. Blondie and Blue Eyes stepped inside and stood together with the marines flanking them. As the doors shut Caroline saw Blondie rest her head on Blue Eyes' shoulder. He in turn placed a soft kiss on top of her head.
Ford turned away from the closing elevator doors and looked long and hard at Caroline. His jaw ached and he could feel the bruising start to form from where Blue Eyes and Blondie had both hit him.
"Do you want some ice?" asked Caroline concerned.
"I'll be alright, I've had worse," replied Ford rubbing his jaw.
"There are cameras and microphones all over the basements cells. We can hear everything they say down there and I can guarantee they will talk."
Ford nodded in agreement, "I want to see if they talk to the Robot."
Caroline flinched slightly at the name Ford used, "I've renamed her as Jane."
"Why?" Ford asked confused.
"Because calling her a robot is rude, so she'll be Jane Doe until we find out her real name. And I want Blondie and Blue Eyes to be known as Kara and Lee."
"It's not up to you Carry."
Caroline shrugged, "I know, but that's the names I'll use for them."
"Come on," added Ford turning to walk down the corridor. "They'll be reaching the basement now and I'm sure you'll want to see it. I'm going to face the music from the powers that be."
Ford walked away leaving Caroline alone. She watched as he disappeared around the corner, limping slightly as he went. Caroline sighed and then made her way to one of the observation rooms. She sat down in front of the monitors showing the basement cells and pressed the record and audio buttons. Immediately the sounds coming from the cells came to life and she could hear the Robot walking around her cell. Caroline watched the screen as the elevator doors opened and Blondie and Blue Eyes were led out.
The Robot walked to glass partition and laughed, saying a few words to her comrades, which the computer quickly translated.
"I knew the alarms would have something to do with you, Starbuck."
"Starbuck?"thought Caroline, wasn't that a brand of coffee shop? She was even more confused when Blondie smiled and laughed in response.
"You know me," she said.
"Yeah, and I have her to thank for these," said Blue Eyes gesturing to his chains as he was led to a cell opposite the Robot, and Blondie was led into an adjacent cell. They both waited until the marines had removed their chains and walked away until they began to talk to each other.
"Are you okay Starbuck?" asked the Robot.
"Never better," Blondie replied, blinking her bruised eye. "How long have you been down here?"
"Since I woke up," replied the Robot shrugging.
Blondie smashed her hand against the glass in disgust and then walked away to the cot in the corner shouting out "frak" as she went. Caroline made a mental note that this must be their version of swearing.
"Are you okay Athena?" asked Blue Eyes softly.
"I'm fine, really I am. This is not a situation I'm unfamiliar with remember."
Blue Eyes frowned and then backed away from the glass so he could lie on his bed. He looked up and saw the camera in the corner and then cursed loudly throwing himself off the bed and walking back over to the glass.
"What's wrong?" asked the Robot.
"They're watching us, and probably listening to us."
"They're always frakking watching us," said Blondie loudly from her bunk.
"We need to decide what to do," added Blue Eyes.
"Can't we just tell them the truth?" asked Blondie and then gestured to the Robot. "They already know about..."
"You're right; just give me some time to think about our terms."
"You're actually going to follow one of my suggestions?" asked Blondie looking a little shocked.
"You're crazy plans always have a habit of working, and I'm fresh out of by-the-book ideas."
Blue Eyes slid down the wall and leaned his head against the glass seemingly in deep thought. Caroline felt the guilt hit her, which seemed to be a common occurrence over the last few weeks. Deciding that she had seen enough, Caroline backed away from the screens knowing that the recorder would pick up the rest.
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Ford had a headache, and he was undecided as to whether the cause was more to do with the numerous knocks he had received, or the three hour grilling from Howell. Ford knew he could definitely attribute the ringing in his ears to Howell. Fortunately, however, they had managed to conceal the majority of the incident from the higher powers, but they were still screaming for answers. Many countries were calling for the prisoners to be moved, including France, and the Netherlands, who were both claiming that the spacecraft had first appeared in their airspace and therefore owned the jurisdiction. Ford knew that if they didn't start coming up with some answers soon they would have no choice but to allow in outside influences. Then it would start getting messy.
The phone suddenly rang next to Ford and he answered it, with frustration and exhaustion marring his words. It was one of the marines who were on guard in the basement. Apparently Blue Eyes wanted to talk to him in order to discuss a deal. Ford wasted no time in heading towards the basement area but Blue Eyes had been brought up to him and was waiting in one of the consultation rooms. He was chained up again by his wrists and ankles but looked calm.
"I hear you want to discuss a deal?" asked Ford, waiting for the computer to translate and taking a seat in one of the vacant chairs. Two marines remained in the room for extra protection.
"We would like the opportunity to explain who we are," replied Blue Eyes in a neutral voice. "However, we require a certain number of guarantees."
"Go on."
"First, you will only speak to me and my wife as we are the ranking officers in our team."
Ford nodded, "that was going to be our original plan."
"Secondly, I want to see each member of my team. I want to know that they are okay. If any one of them has been hurt by you, we will not be telling you anything."
"I can assure you that no harm has been caused to any of you," said Ford and then quickly added, "well except for the unfortunate incident earlier."
Blue Eyes studied Ford for a moment as if he was attempting to ascertain if he was genuine or not. "Third condition, none of us are to be kept in the basement area anymore."
"That may be difficult; we only had five rooms made for you."
"Then I'll share with someone else, preferably my wife."
"That won't be possible, but we can move you into one of the other rooms," said Ford with a smile but Blue Eyes didn't seem pleased with him.
"After we have answered your questions I want my team to have some time together, even if it isn't in private."
"I'm sure that can be arranged with the suitable supervision."
"Okay then, it's a deal, for now" said Blue Eyes. He then held out his hand as much as he could. Ford hesitated a second as the weight of this momentous moment dawned on him. He was going to be the first person in the history of Earth to formally greet life from another world. He took Blue Eye's hand and firmly shook it.
"I still need to pass these conditions through my superiors first," added Ford. "But hopefully we can get things moving sooner rather than later."
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Caroline stood at the back of room and watched as the military leaders and ministers gathered around a large table and discussed the proposal set down by Blue Eyes. Ford was sitting at the head of the table doing the best he could to persuade them to agree. Caroline found herself frowning and folding her arms tightly as the discussion seemed to centre on the Robot, her dangerousness and the potential weapons technology that they could glean.
"I really believe that we should reconvene this meeting until after we've had the opportunity to speak to them," said Ford emphatically.
"I agree," said Howell.
"I want to know what they are capable of and their weapons technology," said one of the ministers straightening his suit jacket. "Not listen to their story."
Howell held up his hand, "I will talk to the male prisoner about those issues, if it is that important to you, and Ford will question the woman about what they are and where they came from."
"I suppose that would be acceptable," replied the minister.
Caroline rolled her eyes and slipped out of the room before she added something she really would not regret. She hated politics, science and space was her passion. Caroline entered the observation area so she could see inside the guest's rooms, even though two of them were currently empty. It was dinner time and Legs was busy digging into a bowl of tomato soup. He had still been irritable lately, so it was nice to see him during one of his calm moments.
Caroline sat in her comfy chair and leaned back watching her guests with a smile across her face. Mr Robot was lying on his back staring at the ceiling with the television tuned to one of the sports channels. Today he was watching a cricket test match, making Caroline laugh. "Each to their own," she thought. Brunette was curled up and doodling on some of the paper she had be given weeks before.
Watching her guests was almost therapeutic and Caroline didn't realise how tired she was until she had already drifted off, only to be awoken by Ford gently massaging her shoulders.
"Hey sleepyhead," he said with a smile.
Caroline looked up to see him behind her and then looked at her watch, "shit, I've been out for two hours."
"You haven't missed much, just a load of politic bullshit, but we had some success." Ford then gestured towards the guest's rooms and Caroline smiled as she saw Blondie being led into her room. After the marines had closed the door Blondie walked straight up to the glass and looked at her reflection, grimacing at the dark bruise and cut that marred her face. She then sat down and started slowly eating the soup that had been left just prior to her arrival.
"Where's Lee going to go?" asked Caroline but her question was answered as the door to Leg's room was opened. Legs looked confused as Blue Eyes entered and a marine threw down a small mattress onto the floor. Blue Eyes shrugged and lay down on the mattress. They appeared to be holding a discussion with each other, probably talking about what was going on and why they were now sharing a room. Caroline didn't have the heart to listen in, knowing that their exchange was being recorded anyway.
Lastly the Robot was brought into her new room. She seemed calm and very unthreatening as the marine guided her in and then left a bowl of soup. The Robot grabbed the bowl and sat down on the bed, taking her time to dig in.
Ford moved in front of Caroline and crossed his arms. "Howell will be questioning Blue Eyes tomorrow, after he gets his wish to see his comrades. I will be questioning Blondie."
Caroline nodded, "then I suggest we get out of here and get back early tomorrow."
Ford nodded, "fancy grabbing some dinner?"
"I think I might be persuaded, as long as it's of the fattening variety."
Ford laughed, "Burgers it is," he said and held out his arm. Caroline hooked her arm around his and they walked out of the room together knowing that it would be a long day tomorrow.
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Ford arrived back at the base early at 0830 hours. He had barely slept, tossing and turning as he thought over repeatedly what had happened that day. He had also dreamt briefly of a faraway place, beyond the stars, another world that he would make his home.
As Ford entered the observation room Caroline was already there going through some paperwork. She smiled at Ford as he entered.
"You ready?" she asked.
"As I'll ever be," replied Ford looking over towards the guests. They were still asleep except for Blondie and Blue Eyes who had been woken up by an early breakfast. Legs seemed completely unaware that anyone had entered the room despite the smell of the warm porridge oats. Blondie seemed unimpressed with the breakfast and preferred to play around with it using her spoon before finally taking a bite. After swallowing hard she looked at the bowl and poked it with her spoon, like it was a strange animal. She must have liked the gloop because she continued to take large mouthfuls in quick succession.
It was 1000 hours when Ford sat down in one of the interview rooms to wait for Blondie and Howell sat and waited in the adjacent room. The table and chairs were now securely nailed to the floor to ensure that Blondie couldn't make another escape bid. Ford knew that Caroline was going to be watching everything, which made him even more nervous that he would screw the whole thing up.
Caroline had not entered the observation room yet, however. Instead she watched, as she had done before, Blondie and Blue Eyes being brought out of their respective rooms. Only this time they were in chains, but this didn't stop them from seeing each other and quickly slipping each other a brief kiss before the marines nudged them down the corridor. As Blondie was led past, Caroline saw the woman turn to her and laugh slightly to herself, as if she was gloating her success from the day before. This irked Caroline somewhat, as she remembered how pathetic and weak she had been, to be so easily overpowered.
Blue Eyes was led to the observation room first so that he could see that his comrades were indeed in good health and Blondie was led straight to the interview rooms.
Ford looked up as Blondie entered and he warmly gestured to the chair. She sat down straight away without complaint and one of the guards stood in front of the door. Ford and Blondie both considered each other for a moment before Ford leaned forward with a key in his hand.
"Can I trust you not to face plant my head into the table?" he asked and waited for the translation.
Blondie did not answer but lifted her hands as far as she could.
"Can I?" asked Ford again.
"Yes," answered Blondie exasperated and opened her eyes wide.
"You can check that attitude because I could just as easily leave them on."
Blondie rolled her eyes as Ford unshackled the chains one by one until they were removed and then passed them to the marine, who promptly passed them out of the door.
"Travers," said Ford to the marine. "Can you get us some refreshments please, tea, soda and some food."
Travers exited the room briefly to relay the message before swiftly returning. Meanwhile Ford turned his attention back to Blondie.
"I'm sorry about your eye," he said.
"Why? I hit you first," replied Blondie.
"I still shouldn't have hit a woman, I'm sorry."
Blondie looked puzzled and rolled her eyes, "whatever, apology accepted. I'm sorry I pushed you through a window."
Ford suddenly had the sinking feeling that it would be a long day, if they carried on the way they were, so he decided to ignore this last jibe. This tactic seemed to work however and Blondie settled back into her chair and moments later a marine entered with some sodas.
"Sorry sir, hot water was considered to be too dangerous," said the marine.
Ford took the two cans and placed one in front of Blondie. She grabbed the can and eyed it suspiciously. Her finger plucked slightly at the ring-pull, seemingly surprised that it sprung back. Ford suppressed a chuckle, she had obviously never seen a drinks can before. He picked up his own can and opened it with ease. Blondie seemed to take note of the method and quickly opened the can.
She took her first gulp, "what the frak is this?"
"Lots of sugary goodness," replied Ford.
Blondie put the can down and turned up her nose, "how can you drink something so sweet?"
Ford laughed and turned to the guard, "I think we may need a diet soda." The marine seemed well prepared and extracted another can from his pocket. This went down a lot better with Blondie and the marine then stood to the side of the room with Travers.
It was now time to get down to the serious questions, which Blondie seemed to sense, giving Ford her complete attention.
Ford took a deep breath before he began with the basics, "can you give me your full name?"
Blondie sighed, "Major Kara Elina Thrace."
Ford took a note of this before he carried on, "and you are married to...?"
"Major Leland Joseph Adama, but he just goes by as Lee."
Ford didn't blame him, "how long have you been married?" he asked even though he had no idea if their "years" were the same length. Though he doubted there would be much variation, a planet able to sustain life would probably orbit the sun at approximately the same distance and amount of time. Ford berated himself for thinking too much, knowing that he was useless at science and probably wrong.
"Just over a year, depending on how long you kept us unconscious," replied Blondie crossing her arms.
Again Ford did not rise to the bait. Instead he pulled out a photograph from his pile of papers and placed it on the table. It was of Blondie and Blue Eyes holding the two children, who looked to be about one year in age. Blondie stared down at the picture and placed her hand gently over it. Her eyes seemed to glass over suddenly.
"Are these children yours and Lee's?" asked Ford.
"Yes," said Blondie weakly and then looked Ford in the eye. "And if you ever hurt or threaten to hurt them in any way, I'll do more than throw your head through this table."
Ford held up his hands, "I have absolutely no intent to cause you or your children any harm, I promise. Where are they?"
"They're safe."
"Here?" asked Ford laying down the satellite photograph of the large ship they had briefly seen.
Blondie seemed to recognise it and raised an eyebrow, "yes, we called that a Battlestar, it's a military ship."
Ford went to put away the pictures again but Blondie swiftly grabbed at the picture of her family.
"This is mine," she said harshly and then added in a softer tone, "I need to see them."
Ford nodded, unable to imagine what it was like to be kept apart from your offspring. "Where were you born?"
"Kallithia, a small island off the coast of Zografos, Picon."
Ford attempted to make a note of the location, but he was none the wiser. "What planet is that?"
"Picon," repeated Blondie.
"Okay, and what about the others, what are their names and where were they born?"
Blondie sighed and thought for a moment, "Lee is from Caprica City, Caprica."
"Is that on Picon too?" interrupted Ford.
"No, that's Caprica."
"So there is more than one planet where you're from?"
"Yes, we have twelve," replied Blondie as if it should be obvious.
Ford took a moment before he replied, "and the others?"
"I don't know where they're from."
"Fair enough, can you name them?" Ford asked laying out a number of pictures in front of her.
Blondie pointed to each in turn, "Margaret Edmondson, Karl Agathon, Hamish McCall and Sharon Agathon." Ford quickly noted everything down and then took the pictures away again.
"Are you all in the military?"
"Yes, the Colonial Fleet."
"And what is your role in this Colonial Fleet?"
"We're all pilots."
"So you fly a ship like the one you crashed in?" asked Ford, laying a picture of the impounded ship onto the table.
"No I fly a viper, like this," replied Blondie showing him the picture of her family with a craft in the background.
"That looks like a fighter jet."
"That's because it is. The other vessel is called a raptor."
Just at that moment a marine entered the room carrying two plates of food and placed them on the table. They contained a simple assortment of sandwiches. The marine then left the room closing the door behind him. Ford gestured to the food before taking a sandwich himself. Blondie hesitated but then took a sandwich and quickly devoured it, followed by a swig of soda.
After a minute Ford spoke again, "Why are you here?"
"We crashed here and then you locked us up."
This time Ford rose to the bait, "yes we did, and just so you know, there's no way of escaping from here no matter how much you try. We're within a couple of metres worth of thick concrete with only one exit. If by some miracle you did manage to escape, there are another two buildings surrounding this one and then a thirty foot wall. So once again why are you here?"
Blondie didn't seem impressed, "I told you, we crashed. I don't even know how we got here. I was plotting an emergency jump and it brought us here. Luckily I managed to send a transmitted copy to the Battlestar just before we jumped."
Ford resisted the urge to ask her all about the jump technology knowing that Howell was gathering this information. He looked at Blondie intently, his years of experience telling him that this woman was hiding a lot of secrets, which he desperately wanted to know. Ford knew that these secrets held the truth behind why they were here. He placed the photograph of the Robot back in front of her.
"Tell me about this woman."
"You tell me," replied Blondie with a smile.
Ford didn't respond, instead he sat back in his chair and folded his arms, waiting for a response. Blondie took a swig of her soda and then also sat back in her chair. After a few moments and a sigh, she started to talk and her words would forever be ingrained in Ford's mind.
"She's a member of our team, remember that," began Blondie. "She's what we call a cylon." Ford did not interrupt or note anything down instead giving his undivided attention. "We created machines in order to make life easier, but they didn't look like her then, they looked more like a bunch of frakking toasters. One day they rebelled against their masters and started a war that finally ended when the cylons signed an armistice. We heard nothing from them for forty years. The frakkers were still out there though, evolving and creating what you have in front of you, humanoid models that could perfectly infiltrate our society in secret. One day about four years ago they reappeared from their seclusion..."
Ford felt light headed like time was slowing down as Blondie continued.
"...and they wiped us out. All twelve planets, billions of lives destroyed in less than a day."
Blondie paused and turned her head away, obviously emotional. Ford did not know what to say, there were no words of comfort he could offer for the extermination of your entire civilisation. Finally he asked in a weak voice, "how?"
"They infiltrated our entire defence mainframe and launched all of our weapons against us. Whenever we tried to fight back they just switched off our Battlestars like they were turning out a light, we were defenceless," Blondie's said, her voice getting harsher with each word.
"But you survived?"
"Yes, I was on board the Battlestar Galactica, an older model to the picture you have there. They are the only two Battlestars to survive the attacks. The Galactica was due for decommissioning and none of her systems were networked so the cylons couldn't infiltrate her. But the toasters managed to switch off and destroy my entire squadron of vipers, we lost about 100 people that day," again Blondie had to pause for a moment and take a deep breath.
Meanwhile Caroline was watching from the other side of the glass and tears had already fallen down her cheeks. The room was completely silent as everyone took in what Blondie was telling them.
"How did your viper survive?" asked Ford.
"It didn't, but I wasn't the one flying it because I was sitting in the brig for striking a superior officer." Ford nodded, unsurprised. "I went out in the second wave, in an older viper that the cylons couldn't affect. We managed to get away and gather survivors then we jumped away," said Blondie with a shrug. "But there were only about 50,000 of us left."
"So you were running away when you came across us?" asked Ford, devastated that so few were alive.
"We were trying to survive, we were looking for you."
"What? You knew about us?" asked Ford incredulously.
Blondie shrugged, "our scriptures speak of a planet called Earth." Ford was silent so she continued. "According to our scriptures we originated from another planet called Kobol, one day we decided to leave and form the Twelve Colonies. The Scriptures say that one group broke away from their brothers and formed a thirteenth colony, here." Ford seemed dumbstruck. "You mean that you've never heard of the Sacred Scrolls or Pythia?"
"No I haven't."
Blondie seemed to look worried for a moment, like she was realising for the first time that her whole belief system had been turned upside down. After a moment she seemed to collect herself back together, "well, then you need to know."
"Know what?"
"That the cylons know about our scriptures."
"What do you mean?" asked Ford, unsure that he wanted to find out the answer.
"Listen, the cylons were following us, trying to wipe the rest of us out, but then they changed their plan. They want to make Earth their new home and they'll stop at nothing until they find you."