It's a shortee, but it serves as a bridge from point A to point B, so... here 'tis.

Too High a Cost
By: Mariel

Chapter 25

Retread

Tory arrived precisely at 0700 with Laura Roslin's suit. The President was in the head changing into it when Kara Thrace arrived a short time later. Poking her head around the door jamb, Kara checked out who was there and then stepped inside. Nodding a greeting to Tory, who sat beside the President's bed reading a file, she walked over to the Admiral's bedside and grinned at him. "Lee's stuck in CIC for a few minutes. I told him not to worry - I didn't mind running down with this." She held up his uniform. Adama grinned back at her, knowing the pleasure she got from flaunting visiting hours with an excuse that would hold up if Cottle caught her.

"Good to see you, too, Kara," he told her dryly. "Sit down and stay a while. You're safe for the time being; Cottle won't be back until around 0900."

Looking over at the room's other bed, she asked, "Where's the President?"

"In changing. She'll be out shortly."

Kara wanted to ask him how he felt about her going with him when he spoke with Valerant, but knew better than to with Tory there. She sighed. He'd been a lot more understanding of Valerant's unusual demand than she'd expected, but she wasn't certain it was a sign of a reduction in tension between him and the President.

Before they could say more, their attention was diverted by Dana Meyes' arrival. As Cottle had promised, she carried with her all the paraphernalia necessary for replacing his bandages.

"Good morning, Meyes," he said. Settling back onto his pillows, he looked down at his bare, scarred torso and asked, "This going to take long?"

Dana shook her head. Taking a practiced look at his wounds, she told him, "You're healing nicely. All I've got to do is make sure the skin is dry and put on new coverings. Another few days, and you won't be needing bandages at all."

She looked at Kara, saw the uniform she held in her hands, and weighed whether or not to say anything about visiting hours. She quickly decided against it. The President's aide had been allowed to arrive early and stay; it was only fair Major Thrace be allowed to remain as well.

Used to being watched, she didn't mind when Kara drew up a chair and closely observed her every move as she worked on replacing the Admiral's bandages.

-xxx-

Adama was sitting on the edge of his bed and carefully pulling his undershirts down over the medic's handiwork when Helo and Sharon Agathon arrived. His brows rose in surprise and he glanced at the wall's time piece. He wondered how they'd gotten past Cottle's watchdogs. "Helo, Sharon," he greeted them. "It's good to see you, but it a little early for a visit, isn't it?"

Helo inclined his head. It was before visiting hours, but it hadn't been as hard as they'd feared to reach the Admiral's door without being stopped. Being recognised, he decided, had its advantages. As for his excuse for being there, it hadn't been easy, but after a little persuasion, he and Sharon had managed to secure piloting and co-piloting duty for today's trip from Tigh. He was feeling quite pleased about that.

"A little, sir," he responded, "but we're your pilots for the morning. We thought we'd come early to say 'hello, and welcome back' before we escort you and President Roslin to the raptor." His lips curved slightly into a smile. "It's good to have you back with us, Admiral."

Adama nodded. "It's good to see you, too, captain." Turning to Sharon, his eyes warmed. "And you, as well, lieutenant. I'm told the two of you have been regular visitors."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Laura emerge from the head. Involuntarily, he turned to watch her. To his surprise, she'd put her hair up, which no doubt explained why she'd taken longer than usual to get ready. Walking toward them, he saw her glance flicker between Helo and Sharon and Kara. After she smiled a good morning at the trio, her gaze fell on him.

"If that's your uniform, Admiral, the head is all yours."

Resisting the urge to say something about her hair, and taking the hint that she wanted him ready on time, Bill stood and reached for the hangar holding his clothes. "I won't be long," he told his three visitors. His movements only slightly stiffer than normal, he went to change.

When he returned, the room's complement had increased by two. Looking at Lee and Saul in surprise, he walked over towards his bed and sat down on the edge of it. "I was expecting just one of you this morning," he said. "What's going on?"

"Everything's fine in CIC," Saul assured him quickly. "I left Gaeta in charge.And don't complain about the two of us: he'd hoped to come down and see you before you left, too, but I told him he'd have to join the crowd and wait his turn." In spite of the way Bill had pushed everyone away over the past months, there was little doubt as to his people's concern for him. Almost everyone was looking for excuses to come down to see the Admiral. Still unsure of how his commanding officer would react to that concern, but determined to hope for the best, Tigh was advising people to stay away and let the Admiral recover a bit more before visiting. "Dee says hello," he continued, "and says she'll be down later today. Tyrol sends his regards and asks if he and Cally can come visit tomorrow. They weren't sure whether to bring the kid or not. I said I'd ask."

Looking over at Lee, he didn't wait for an answer from Bill on 'the kid' thing before continuing, "Lee was coming anyway, but I figured we could both bring you up to date on what's been happening. You'll need to know everything you can before your talk with Valerant."

Bill nodded. "Tell the Chief that if Cottle allows it, their son is welcome." Briefly, he wondered why Lee had not given him the information about Dee's visit, but shoved the thought aside. Switching to a topic of more immediate concern, he asked, "So what happened overnight?"

Tigh's face took on a sour look. "We've got four more shuttles heading our way. Two from the Prometheus, one from the Kimba Huta, and another from the Celestra. And because people are worse than sheep, the Rising Star and the Space Park are busy loading up shuttles as we speak as well. No one can wait to get rid of their sick," he said, obviously disgusted. "Both the Star and the Park have large populations, so there's no telling how many people they'll have heading toward us. Sick or not, people are well and truly panicked. They're turning on each other like rabid dogs." He shook his head. "They're all idiots."

Sensing Laura's eyes on him, Bill turned to share a silent look of understanding with her. He didn't disagree with Saul, exactly, but as Laura had explained, there were mitigating circumstances causing the disturbing behaviours they were seeing. Hopefully, they'd be able to turn things around and provide enough reassurance to allow people the calm they needed in order to resume acting in a more reasoned manner.

"What about the shuttles already in formation with us?" he asked.

"They're holding as we requested, but I got a report just before I left to come here that says there are three dead on one of the shuttles from the Faru Sadin."

"Give it permission to board," Adama said quickly. "Just make sure Cottle knows what's happening." Ticking off items from his mental list, he asked, "What about DeCourt?"

This time, it was Lee who answered. "We still haven't tracked him down. He's just disappeared. We contacted all the ships he might have gone to and got nothing."

His father frowned. "Something's not right," he muttered. "I want you to have people keep looking, and I want to know the minute you hear anything."

Lee nodded and held out a sheaf of documents. "I've got the notes you requested on supply ships, manpower, and our scheduling."

Bill took the file folder and nodded his thanks. "I'll go over it on the shuttle. What about shuttle manifests? Anyone ask about those yet?"

Lee shook his head. "Things have been too crazy on board the shuttles for anyone to get around to doing them. People are just being rounded up and herded onboard. I don't think anyone's bothering with lists. No one cares who they're shipping, so long as they're gone."

From across the room, Roslin spoke for the first time. "People will be looking for word of their loved ones. If you could request passenger lists from each shuttle, perhaps my office could help with what happens after that." Turning to her aide, she said, "Tory, could you see to having someone take care of that? If we set up some sort of desk people can contact, it would be helpful." She turned to Tigh. "That will take some of the pressure off your people, or off Doctor Cottle's staff."

Saul rewarded her with a grudging nod. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Laura raised an eyebrow and her lips quirked. "High praise indeed, Colonel." She then turned to Tory and the two women began to speak in low tones, ironing out what would be done and how.

The update apparently over, Kara stepped closer and asked in a conspiratorial tone, "You sure you don't want me to drive, Admiral?"

Helo, who was standing to one side and talking in a low voice to Lee, looked up quickly. "Hey, Thrace, mind your business! Sharon and I are playing chauffeur. The goal is to get everyone there in one piece, remember."

Kara wrinkled her nose at him. "Just thought maybe they'd like to get there on time."

Adama looked at the two pilots with amusement. In spite of the situation, it felt good to be here, felt good, he realised with surprise, to be alive.

Looking at the people assembled in the room, he examined how he felt about them. It suddenly stuck him how fortunate he was...

A tightness inside him began to ease.

"I'm honoured by your concern," he told Kara in a dry tone, "but I'm sure Helo and Sharon will get us there safely. And, providing the good doctor shows up soon, we'll arrive on time, too."

-xxx-

The friendly argument between Kara and Helo, and Adama's gentle rejoinder to it, had drawn Tory's attention. Looking over at the group of uniformed men and women, she paused and then commented in a low tone, "They live in a completely different world, don't they?"

Laura looked at the tableau in front of her. The people who stood so comfortably talking with one another had been connected to each other - or at least to Bill - before the end of the world, and had struggled to support one another every step of the way since then. The connection between them and the man they looked to for guidance stood out in stark contrast to the temporary, temperamental alliances she was used to. They were, she thought, like family, but with a little more order...And no matter how bad things got, no matter how much they argued or disagreed, at the end of the day, they stood together.

Looking at the President, Tory waited expectantly for some sort of dry comment from her. She frowned slightly when she was met with only silence. Unable to identify the expression on Roslin's face as she regarded the group of men and women, she shrugged and looked back down at her clipboard.

-xxx-

A short time later, a raspy cough outside in the hallway heralded Cottle's arrival. Stepping into the room, he paused in surprise. After surveying the assembled group, he wondered what the hell his people had been doing letting them all in.

Colonel Tigh sat on the edge of Adama's bed, casually swinging one leg back and forth, his hands loosely clasped on his lap. Helo and Sharon Agathon stood to one side, nodding their heads at something Lee Adama was saying. Kara Thrace stood talking with Tory, who was sitting on the edge of the President's bed. In the small amount of floor space left available, Admiral Adama stood dressed in full uniform, looking almost as healthy and imposing as always. The President, slender and competent in one of her suits, stood beside him. Both seemed unaffected by the conversations flowing around them and were deep in a conversation of their own. That there were no drawn daggers between them anywhere in sight, he took as a good sign.

"What in the name of Hades is going on here?" he rasped.

Conversations stopped and everyone turned to look at him.

Roslin smiled into the silence that ensued. "The Admiral and I are just waiting for your permission to leave, Doctor," she said.

Cottle frowned. "That much I could figure out! I want to know why everyone else is here!"

Looking a little sheepish, Helo said, "We thought it might be nice if we escorted the President and Admiral Adama to their shuttle."

Tigh frowned. "The Admiral had to be filled in on what took place overnight. I needed to see him to do that."

Cottle pursed his lips. "There are phones," he snorted. Turning to Lee, he didn't even have to ask before being told, "Same here. The Admiral needs to be filled in on everything that happened for his meeting this morning." Lee hesitated, then added more firmly, "I had a couple reports for him, too, and figured I'd wait and see him off..."

Kara's eyes sparkled when Cottle's eyes lit upon her. "Hey, I had to bring the Admiral his uniform. When everyone else showed up, and I guess I just forgot to leave."

The doctor shook his head and stepped towards his two patients. "I turn my back for one minute and everyone thinks they have an excuse for a party."

"We were going to invite you," Kara said, still grinning.

"Don't get smart," he warned. Looking at the assembled group, he groused, "How can I examine anyone with the bunch of you standing around? What do you think this is?"

Everyone looked at one another. "We can leave..." Kara said.

"Give the girl a cigar!" Cottle exclaimed, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "You most certainly can!"

But no one moved.

"Doctor, if you're only doing the usual, I don't mind them staying. It'll only take a minute."

Cottle glared at Adama. Ignoring his offer, he said, "I want everyone out in the hallway. Now!"

His tone brooked no argument, and everyone but Bill and Laura slowly moved towards the door.

When the others had left, he looked at the two remaining. They stood and regarded him silently, their shoulders almost, but not quite, touching. Standing ready, their military and civilian uniforms in place, the two looked nothing like the two people he had heard screaming at one another the night before. Nor, he thought, were they the two people wrapped in the silence afterward. Their defences back in place, their roles clear, they regarded him with steady eyes that belied all the turmoil that had been so devastatingly evident the night before.

He cleared his throat and waved one hand dismissively. "I don't need to examine either of you - you're both fine, so far as I can tell. Shouldn't be," he admitted grumpily, "but you're fine. All I want is a chance to have the last word before you leave, so here it is." He paused to make sure he had their undivided attention, then continued, "I want you to be damned careful out there. You pay attention to how you're feeling, and if anything - and I do mean anything doesn't feel right, I want you to get back here asap so I can have a look at you. I'm sending a medic along for the ride, but he won't be with you when you're in your meeting, so I need you two to use a little sense." He hesitated, then lowered his voice somewhat. "Pay attention to each other - if one of you is too damned stupid or stubborn to admit to not feeling well and need to quit, I expect the other to notice and act accordingly. You've got to take care of each other, because there's no one else who can. Understood?"

Bill and Laura looked at one another, then turned to the doctor and nodded wordlessly.

"I'm serious," the doctor insisted, thinking they probably weren't getting the message. "I don't know what the hell's been going on between you two, but you need to get it ironed out. As leaders go, you're all we've got. We need you, and you need each other. Now get out of here. I'll see you when you get back."

With that, Cottle stood aside and let the two leaders walk past him and out the door.

End
Chapter 25