No one got the last challenge (Sorry, twinx. Good guess, though). My fault, really. I shouldn't have used something as obscure as Doctor Who as a reference.
Anyhoo…for those of you who are wondering: Hammerhead is an ECO as well as DCAG. ECMOs are actually senior to pilots in real life electronic attack squadrons.
Kara slowly regained consciousness.
Through the drug-addled fog of her mind, she realized by feel more than by sight that she was lying on the cold deck of a Raptor. Soft voices were talking around her, but the buzzing in her ears made it hard for her to understand what the conversation was about.
She slowly placed her palms flat on the deck and struggled to push herself up into a sitting position with shaky arms. The cheek that had been resting on the deck suddenly felt cooler than the rest of her body, and it was only then that she realized that she must have been drooling.
Someone lay their hands on her to help her sit up, Kara tried to smack them back, but only succeeded in sending herself tumbling back to the deck. The impact of her elbow against hard metal sent sharp pain shooting up her arm.
"Whoa! Easy there, Major," someone said as he helped her sit up against the back panel of the Raptor's interior.
Kara recognized that voice. It was Corpsman North.
Her eyes gradually began to focus and she could just make out the armband of a corpsman on the green blur hovering in front of her.
"I'm just going to check you over real quick.
She tried to struggle against his fingers as they held her eyelids open and a light was shined into her eyes, but she was still too out of it.
"Doesn't look as if the Commander gave you a full dose, sir, or you'd have been out for hours."
'Full dose? Wha-?'
The memory of the pain in her backside and the clatter of the syringe thrown across the deck slowly made its way through the haze.
'Lee sedated me…the bastard.'
Kara tried to speak, but she couldn't get her facial muscles to cooperate.
"How long?" she managed to force out with a minimal amount of drool.
"About forty-five minutes, sir."
'I'm going to kill that fraking bastard.'
But even as that thought ran through her head, her stomach was twisting itself into a tighter and tighter knot.
Lee was coming back.
Wasn't he?
The minutes ticked by and Kara gradually completely regained her senses.
Her eyes hadn't left her watch since the moment they could properly focus again, and she ran the plan through her head over and over again as the second hand swept around.
"DRAIDS contact!" Hammerhead suddenly called out from his position at the ECO's console.
Everyone in the Raptor perked up.
"Multiple DRADIS contacts…" he amended as more and more blips began showing up on his screen. "They're broadcasting Colonial transponder signals. It's the fleet from New Caprica."
The excitement was palpable among the motley group of crewmembers inside the cramped space.
"They did it!" the pilot exclaimed from his seat at the front.
Kara grabbed onto the edge of Hammerhead's console and pulled herself halfway up.
"What about Pegasus and Galactica?" she asked
Hammerhead checked the display in front of him, "Uhm…can't see them yet, sir."
Then a large blip appeared.
"Another contact. It's Galactica."
More excitement, but Kara was more concerned about the other battlestar.
"What about Pegasus? What about the Raptors that were left on board?"
"Nothing yet, Major."
The excitement became muted.
Kara fell back to her original position.
Only one thought ran through her mind.
'He's coming back.'
'He's coming back.'
'He's coming back.'
"Admiral? Pegasus' planes are refusing to land. Should I order them to come in?"
Adama looked up to where Helo was standing with a headset pressed against his ear.
"No," the admiral said simply.
Both men turned their eyes back to the DRADIS displays and waited.
The pilot turned and told Hammerhead that they were running low on fuel. The DCAG had been getting similar reports from all of Pegasus' pilots.
He turned in his seat to look at Kara sitting against the Raptor's back panel.
"Major, the Vipers are running on fumes and the Raptors are getting close as well."
But Kara just stared straight ahead. She hadn't moved since Hammerhead last told her that Pegasus wasn't on the screen.
"We need to land, Major. Major?"
He shook his head. The CAG was obviously going to be little help right now.
Hammerhead switched wireless frequencies to call in his request, "Galactica. Hammerhead. Pegasus Air Group requesting permission to land."
A voice came through his earpiece a moment later, "Permission granted, Pegasus Air Group."
"Roger that, Galactica."
Switching back to the Air Group frequency, Hammerhead made the announcement: "Hammerhead to all Vipers, check in and call out your fuel levels. We're going to land on Galactica."
The hangar bay was filled with ragged and filthy civilians and former military personnel celebrating their escape from that wretched planet.
The stench of unwashed bodies and clothing was overwhelming as the crew of Pegasus disembarked from their vehicles, and although the stinking mass surged forward to bring them into the celebration, few of the new arrivals felt like joining in.
Underneath the yelling and the cheering, there was definite grumbling over the price that had been paid for this moment.
"Frak off, asswipe," one of Pegasus' marines said as he pushed an overzealous civilian out of the way.
Kara shoved her way through the crowd to get to the tool locker at the edge of the hangar bay. She needed to be alone.
She opened the hatch to the locker and walked in to interrupt a young couple's private celebration.
"Get out!" she ordered.
The couple separated in surprise and fumbled for their clothes. But they didn't move fast enough for her.
"NOW!"
That sent them scrambling out of the locker, holding their discarded clothing to their bodies. They were more afraid of what the blonde officer would do to them than the humiliation of being seen half-naked by hundreds of people.
Kara shut the hatch, muffling the merriment on the other side, and dogged the handle. She made sure that it was locked before sliding against the bulkhead down to the deck. She leaned her head against her hands resting on her knees to try and gather herself.
She wasn't going to cry.
There was no reason for her to cry.
Lee was going to come back.
Any minute now, there would be an announcement that Pegasus showed up on DRADIS, and she and the rest of the crew would get back on their planes to fly back and she would punch the bastard hard before kissing him senseless.
But the sensation of the wings on her ring pressing against her forehead brought her back to the present.
Reality was beginning to seep in but she refused to accept it.
'He's coming back.'
'He's coming back.'
'He's coming back.'
She wrapped her arms tightly around her knees and her body rocked back and forth as she repeated that mantra over and over again in her head.
But she wasn't just saying it in her head anymore.
"He's coming back. He's coming back. He's coming back…"
She rocked harder and harder, trying to stay in control. The back of her head began banging against the bulkhead behind her.
Her arms tightened almost painfully around her knees as the tension built up within her, like a tightly wound spring. It threatened to pop out at the slightest hint of release.
But she fought it.
Kept it inside.
But finally, it became too much.
She threw her head back and let it out: a raw, primal scream that echoed against the bulkheads and rang in her ears.
Sobs racked her body and hot tears ran down her face as she fell to deck on her side, still curled up into a ball.
And she kept on saying it.
"He's coming back. He's coming back. He's coming back…"
Maybe if she said it enough times, he would.
I was really iffy about this chapter. What did you guys think?