CHAPTER 38

NEW CAPRICA, 22 JULY 2064 (DAY 590 OF THE EXODUS)

Karl and Sharon Agathon had been granted extended furlough from their posts aboard the GALACTICA after Admiral Adama had been informed of the kidnapping of their baby, Hera. Adama, who had never been informed of President Roslin's plans to place the baby, without the consent of the Agathons, with a surrogate mother, had been outraged when he had heard of it.

"By all the gods," he had exclaimed, "what was that woman THINKING?"

Sharon knew that Adama had meant well when he granted the furlough, and she knew that Karl thought that furlough was a good idea, too, but honestly, she wished she were back at work aboard the GALACTICA right now. She felt completely useless here. There was nothing she could do to assist in the hunt for her stolen daughter. All she could do was sit here at home and stew in her own juices.

At the moment, she was home alone. She and Karl had fought bitterly this morning. Anger and guilt were consuming her, eating her alive from the inside out. Why had she trusted the humans? Why had she fallen in love with one? If she had only listened to her own gut instinct, she never would have believed Roslin's story about her baby's death and she would have kept looking for her. Karl had been the one who had finally convinced her to let go, to believe the lie. Was he in on the conspiracy as well? She had virtually accused him of such this morning, and he had stormed out of the house, slamming the front door of their mobile home so hard that the entire house shook. He's probably down at Charlie Connor's bar now, getting drunk, she thought.

Then her thoughts moved to her baby. Hera, she thought miserably, where are you? Who had taken her child away? Where had they gone? Was Hera all right?

Sharon started to cry again as she sat on her sofa, her whole body shaking as grief seized her once again. Then, she was startled to hear the doorbell ring. Brushing her tears away, she got up and went to the door. Opening it, she saw the stocky form of Captain Bill Reese standing on her doorstep.

"Mrs. Agathon," Reese said, a sad look on his face. He saw her puffy eyes and knew she had been crying. "May I come in?," he asked.

"Captain Reese," Sharon said. "Of course!" She stepped back and opened the door wider to allow him to enter. "Please, have a seat," she said, pointing a comfortable chair positioned across from the sofa.

"Thank you," Reese said, taking a seat in the chair. Sharon closed the door, then returned to her place on the sofa.

"Mrs. Agathon," Reese said, "is your husband home?"

"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "We had a fight this morning and he left. I don't know where he is right now."

Reese frowned. He had hoped to find the Agathons together…the news he had to present was going to be extremely stressful for both of them, and he knew that they would need each other's support to cope with it. But he also knew that he couldn't really justify delaying any longer. He sighed deeply, then spoke.

"Mrs. Agathon," he said, "I have news regarding your child. I'm very sorry to say, it's not good news."

Sharon gasped. "What's happened," she exclaimed. "What's happened to my baby!"

Reese cleared his throat nervously. Then he looked sadly into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Agathon. The kidnapper was involved in a motor vehicle accident near a place called Aztec, New Mexico. There were…no survivors. Your baby…is dead."

Reese braced himself for the explosion of grief which he expected to erupt from Sharon at any moment. But to his surprise, it didn't come. Indeed, nothing came. Sharon sat, silently, staring at him…or, as he saw when he looked more closely…through him.

"Mrs. Agathon?," he said. Getting no response, and seeing no movement save the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, he held up his hand in front of her face. Again, no reaction. Sharon just continued to stare, blankly. He tried speaking to her again, and gently shaking her, but to no avail.

"What the frak," he muttered. "She's gone catatonic!"

Reese took out his cellphone and called for an ambulance. As the med-techs were loading Sharon up for transport, Karl Agathon drove up.

"What's going on here!," he demanded as he got out of his car. "Where are you taking my wife?"

Captain Reese took him by the arm. "Mr. Agathon, we need to talk."

As Reese filled Karl in on what had happened, both the news of the baby's death and Sharon's reaction to it, the ambulance took Sharon to the Raptor pad for transport to the GALACTICA, where Dr. Cottle would oversee her treatment.[1] As she lay on the gurney in the ambulance, Sharon's mind was consumed with dark thoughts.

How convenient, she thought bitterly to herself. I discover my baby is alive, and suddenly she's whisked away by a kidnapper, and then killed in a car accident. No, it wasn't an accident, she knew in her heart. It was all part of the conspiracy the humans had concocted to keep her from her baby. I should never have trusted the humans. I should never have fallen in love with one of the despicable creatures. Then another, even darker thought came to her. John was right. We should have exterminated them all.

Such were the thoughts which filled Sharon's mind as she was unloaded from the ambulance and onto the Medevac Raptor. She came back to full awareness of her surroundings as the Raptor lifted off from the pad. She found she was alone…the med-tech who had accompanied her had gone to the cockpit to briefly consult with the pilot and navigator and use the communications array to get instructions from Dr. Cottle.

Sharon found she was strapped down, but not too tightly. She quickly freed herself from her bonds, and went to the Raptor's emergency supply kit, where she took out a pistol and a survival knife. When the med-tech…a handsome young man with blonde hair…returned from the cockpit, she surprised him, quickly and quietly dispatching him with the knife. Then she loaded an ammo clip into the pistol, and crept up to the cockpit door.

Throwing the cockpit door open she found herself facing Racetrack Edmondson and her navigator, a man she did not immediately recognize. Racetrack's eyes widened, and she exclaimed "What…" as Sharon pulled the trigger, shooting her right between the eyes. Racetrack collapsed in her seat, her eyes open and staring, but seeing nothing.

"Frak!," the navigator cursed as he launched himself against Sharon, trying to grab the pistol away from her. But he was too late. Sharon fired again, the bullet tearing into the man's chest. He fell backwards, sprawling across his own chair, breathing heavily. Sharon finished him off with another head-shot.

Sharon pulled Racetrack out of her seat and dragged her into the rear cabin of the Raptor. Then she sat down at the Raptor's controls. She ordered the computer to begin calculations for FTL jump.

Shortly afterward, aboard the GALACTICA, Admiral Adama was on the bridge conferring with Colonel Tigh when he was interrupted by Lieutenant Gaeta.

"Sir," Gaeta said, "Raptor One from New Caprica just jumped out of this star system."

"What?," Adama exclaimed.

"It's gone, Sir," Gaeta said. "It engaged its FTL jump engine and jumped away."

"Felgercarp!," Tigh said. "Who was aboard that ship?"

Gaeta called up the manifest and flight plan for the Raptor. "It was the Medevac Raptor. Piloted by Lieutenant Margaret Edmondson, with Lieutenant Simon Graves as navigator. They were transporting Sharon Agathon here for treatment by Dr. Cottle in our infirmary."

Adama's face went pale. Sharon Agathon, he thought miserably to himself. She's defecting back to the Cylons. Then the full import of what had happened hit him like a hammer blow. If she tells them where Earth is…

"Can you track them?," he exclaimed. "Where did they go?"

Gaeta shook his head. "No Sir," he said.

"What is it, Bill?," Tigh said, seeing Adama's obvious consternation at this sudden turn of events.

"It's Sharon," Adama said. "She's betrayed us."

Tigh's eyes grew wide. "Holy frak!," he whispered.

"Yes, quite," Adama said. He turned to Gaeta. "Mr. Gaeta, get President Roslin on the horn."

[1] Reese had her sent to GALACTICA so as to prevent the possibility that her Cylon identity might be discovered if she were treated in an Earthling medical facility.