Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

LordZeus: Bella sees Skynet as a "god" because she's sophisticated enough to believe in the concept of gods. That and she's a bit nutty.

Centurion005: I think the Executor is just a slightly modified version of the modern Centurion.

Here's Chapter 36. Thanks for all your patience. Read and review. And if you find any spelling/grammar errors, please let me know.

Update 10/4/09: I have significantly modified the end of this chapter.

Fort Leopard, 2024

"How on Earth did you get second degree burns on both your palms and knees?" Becka asked.

"All I can say is that I had to crawl on all fours on a very hot surface at some point." said Kara.

At that moment Kara was in Fort Leopard's infirmary, having recently returned from another successful Spec Ops mission with Cameron. That success had come with a price, however: Being stuck in the infirmary for at least twelve hours.

Fortunately, she had Becka and Davy to keep her company. Husker was also here at her side, sitting on the floor next to her bed. Kara reached down and managed to scratch his ears despite her fingers being wrapped in gauze. Husker whimpered and nuzzled Kara's forearm in affection.

Kara sank back against her pillow chuckling. "Another victory for the good guys."

"Yeah... and another visit to the infirmary." Becka said with a grim smile.

"Don't worry, it's fixed now." Kara reassured them, "They bandaged me up and gave me some painkillers and antibiotics for the burns. I'm feeling fine."

"Until the painkillers wear off." Davy pointed out.

"Yeah, well." Kara shrugged, "I'll deal with that tomorrow. So, how was your day?"

"Pretty good, actually." said Davy, "My squad took out a Tank this morning. We managed to scavenge some pretty cool stuff from the wreck. Weapons, power generators, optical sensors. All sorts of things we can jury rig and use."

Kara nodded. "What about you, Becka? How was your day at the field hospital?"

"Exhausting." replied Becka, "Seventeen combat surgeries. Two without any anesthetics. But the good news is that they'll live to fight another day. Exhausting but also very fulfilling."

"Wow." said Kara with a smile, "Looks like we all had a pretty good d-"

Suddenly, Husker began barking wildly. Kara instinctively sat up. Davy and Becka spun around as the door to Kara's ward opened.

Kara relaxed when she saw who it was. "Hey, Cam."

"Hello, lieutenant. How are you feeling?" asked her partner.

"Great," said Kara radiantly, "Like I could take on all of Skyn- Hey! Down boy! Down!"

Unable to recognize Cameron as a friendly machine, Husker was barring his teeth and growling menacingly at her.

"Shhhh!" shushed Kara, reaching out for the black dog's head. "It's okay, it's okay, boy."

Husker wasn't convinced and continued to snarl and growl. The machine regarded the dog with an uncertain expression on her face.

Davy hurried over to Husker, knelt down, and managed to put one hand underneath the canine's jaw.

"It's okay, boy," he intoned, gently rubbing the back of the dog's head, "It's okay. That right there is a nice machine. It's not gonna hurt you, boy. Shhhhh...."

Gradually, Husker relaxed, stopped barring his teeth, and lay down on his belly. He didn't take his suspicious eyes off Cameron, however.

"Thanks Davy," said Kara with relief.

"No problem, Starbuck," replied Davy, though he himself was staring at Cameron uneasily.

"You can come in now, Cam." Kara called out.

Cameron stepped into the room and calmly strode past Becka and over to Kara's side, opposite that of Davy.

Kara cleared her throat, "Becka, Davy, this is my Spec Ops partner, Cameron. Cam, these are my friends-"

"Corporal David Griffin and Sergeant Rebbecca Feral." Cameron finished. She turned to Davy.

"The lieutenant has spoken very highly of both of you." she said plainly.

Davy nodded quickly. "Yeah..." he said, trying to keep himself composed, "She's told us a lot about you... Good things I mean."

"That is good to know." replied Cameron, though her tone indicated she didn't really care what Kara had been telling him about her.

Husker started growling again giving Davy an excuse to turn his eyes away from Cameron.

While Davy was trying to calm Husker down, Becka, who had been staying back this while time, gazed at Cameron with a cold stare. Cameron tilted her head and stared back at Becka with an unreadable expression.

Becka spoke first. "What do you want?" she asked in a manner that was borderline rude.

"I was hoping to discuss the results of our mission with Thrace." replied Cameron briskly, "However, I cannot do so with you and Corporal Griffin here."

"Why not?" asked Becka sharply.

"The details of our mission are still classified." explained Cameron matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I see. Would you like the rest of us to leave in that case?" Becka asked patronizingly.

"No, no." Kara interjected hastily, "You can stay. Cam and I can talk about the mission later. Right, Cam?"

Cameron was silent at first. "Agreed." she said at last. She then gave Kara's bandaged hands a look. "Your recovery seems to be proceeding on schedule, lieutenant." she observed.

Becka cleared her throat loudly. "No offense, but technically speaking, I'm the one in this room most qualified to make that sort of statement. I am a medic after all."

"Yes, I'm aware of that." replied Cameron coolly, "I was not making any sort of in-depth diagnosis, however. I was merely commenting on the fact that Lieutenant Thrace's condition appears to have improved since I last saw her." She paused for a moment. "Are my observations... in error, Sergeant Feral?"

Becka shook her head. "No." she said briskly, "I agree with you. Your observations, I mean." She cleared her throat again. "Now, uh, why don't you go back to whatever it was you were doing?"

"I would like to remain here with Thrace until she is discharged from the infirmary." said Cameron. "

Becka raised her eyebrows. "May I ask why?"

"I merely wish to watch over her and ensure her recovery proceeds without interruption." stated Cameron.

Becka made a derisive snorting sound. "That's very nice of you." she said dryly, "But we were already doing that. Thank you very much."

"It's all right, Becka." Kara said out loud, "Cam just wants to make sure no one tries to sneak in here and kill me in my sleep." She laughed weakly and trailed off when she realized her attempt at humor had flopped completely.

"Starbuck," asked Becka dryly, "are you actually gonna sleep with that" - she gestured at Cameron - "in the room?"

"Oh come on, Becka-" Kara started to protest, but Becka ignored her and walked right up to Cameron instead.

"Let me make something clear to you," she told the cyborg harshly, "I am not gonna leave my friend alone in here with you."

"Why not?" asked a confused Cameron.

"Why not?" repeated Becka mockingly. "I could write a whole book about why not."

"Becka!" exclaimed Kara, unable to believe her friend's behavior. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Perhaps, sergeant" suggested Cameron, "it would help me to understand better if you gave an example."

"All right," said Becka slowly, "let's just say I want to make sure you don't slit her throat when she's sleeping."

"If I wanted to terminate Lieutenant Thrace, I would not have to wait for her to go to sleep." Cameron stated bluntly. "Nor would there be anything you could do to stop me."

"Really?" challenged Becka in an uncharacteristic display of recklessness, "What if I put a plasma bolt in that big, fat chip of yours? How does that sound?"

"You could try."

"I could do more than try."

Kara was exasperated. "That's enough!" she shouted, "Stand down, both of you!"

Disturbed by all the noise, Husker started barking loudly again.

Cameron turned away from Becka and looked at Kara. "I should leave. My presence here is obviously causing a disturbance. I will see you tomorrow, lieutenant. Get some rest in the meantime."

She turned around and headed off.

"Wait, Cameron!" Kara called out. But it was too late. She was gone.

Kara stared at the doorway with her mouth hanging open for a few seconds. Then, despite the numbness in her legs from the painkillers, she managed to climb out of bed.

"Hey, hey!" cautioned Davy, "You've still got another twelve hours, Starbuck."

Kara ignored him and walked - or rather limped up to Becka.

"Just what the hell was that all about?" Kara demanded furiously.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." Becka said crisply, "What is it about that thing that you adore so much?"

"For your information," snapped Kara, "that thing is my partner."

Becka rolled her eyes. "You're not on a mission anymore, Starbuck."

"That doesn't mean she can't visit me. Like it or not, Becka, she cares about me. Maybe not in the same way you do, but she does care."

"It, Starbuck. Not she. It."

"You have a problem with me referring to Cam as 'she'?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." retorted Becka, "In case you've forgotten, your dear partner is not a she. It may look and talk like one of us, but it is not one of us and it never will be."

Kara shook her head. "Look, Becka," she hissed, "I don't care if Cam's the Anti-Crust-"

"Antichrist." Davy meekly corrected.

"Whatever." said Kara, "The point is that Cam is my partner. And a frakkin' good one at that. She has saved my ass out there on more than one occasion. The least you could do is show her a bit of respect."

"Respect?" Becka rolled her eyes again. "For God's sake, Starbuck. Do I have to spell out the obvious to you? It - is - a - machine! A Terminator! One of Skynet's wretched playthings! It may have saved your life, but it's probably stolen dozens of other lives. That's what it was built for! To take lives. Human lives. How can you respect something that represents what we're fighting against?"

Kara clenched her teeth and gave Becka a very cold stare. "Becka," she whispered slowly, "You're like a sister to me. I love you. But if you ever treat Cameron like that again, I swear I will kick your sorry ass, and I will kick it hard. Do you understand me, sergeant?"

For a moment, Becka looked shocked, as if Kara had spat in her face. Then she pursed her lips and gave Kara an equally cold stare.

"Understood... lieutenant." she said, her voice laced with disdain.

Then without another word, Becka stormed off.

"Becka!" Davy shouted after the retreating figure. He shook his head and sighed. "I'd better go talk to her."

"You should." said Kara darkly, "Before she does something really, really stupid."

"Hey, don't worry about her, Starbuck." Davy replied gently, "You just get some rest, ok?"

Kara nodded. "Ok." She suddenly leaned forward and kissed Davy.

Davy looked like someone had hit him in the face with a frying pan. "Ummm... wow." he murmured.

Kara smirked. "We're still just friends." she said.

"Oh...." Davy tried to hide his disappointment, "Well, then I'll see you tomorrow, Starbuck. Good night."

"Good night, Davy."

Kara watched Davy depart and then got back into bed. Husker leapt onto the bed as well and plopped down across Kara's belly. Kara giggled lightly and began stroking his fur.

"What a day..." she sighed, scratching the back of Husker's ears.

Husker licked her face in response.

The next morning, Kara received a visit from General Koontz who, after first informing her that the doctors had cleared her for active duty, congratulated her on the success of yet another mission.

"If our intelligence is correct," he informed her, "it'll take at least a year for the machines to replace that factory. You and your partner did an excellent job."

"Thank you, sir." said Kara, "I'll be sure to pass that on to Cameron when I see her."

"That won't be necessary, lieutenant." stated Koontz, "I already told her this yesterday."

"When?"

"Right before she left for Sector three-seven-zero."

"Three-seven-zero? Isn't that a high level radiation sector?"

Koontz nodded. "That's why we sent a machine."

"Was she sent alone?"

Again Koontz nodded. "Those were Connor's orders."

"Connor sent her to three-seven-zero by herself?" asked Kara

"That's what I just said." replied Koontz.

"Did he say why?"

Koontz shook his head. "He didn't tell me a damn thing. And I sure as hell didn't bother asking him."

"Do you know when Cameron will be back, sir?" Kara asked.

"No." said Koontz, "But I'll let you know when she does." He turned to leave. "By the way, you should get that thing replaced before your next mission."

"What? What?!"

Upon seeing Kara's aghast reaction, Koontz chuckled lightly and said, "I meant your plasma rifle, lieutenant."

"Oh." said Kara, feeling both relieved and embarrassed.

An hour later, Kara was in one of the armories waiting for Marcus to finish his analysis of her rifle.

"There are clear indications of metal fatigue." the scrubbed Triple-Eight stated with disapproval in his voice, "Along the barrel, the stock, and the grip. Furthermore, the interior has been fused in several places. Probably from overheating - several times. This weapon cannot be used again without risk of overloading."

"Yeah, I know that." said Kara indifferently. "That's kinda why I'm here. To get a new one."

"You should have requested a replacement M-42 at least a month ago." Marcus said sternly.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't. Now, can I have a new one, please?"

"Very well." Marcus reached into a crate nearby and pulled out a plasma rifle.

"This is the new SIG-44B phased plasma rifle manufactured by our allies in Switzerland." he stated, "Its overall design is based off of Skynet's own M-42 plasma rifle."

He handed the weapon to Kara. Kara accepted the weapon and found to her delight that it was lighter, more streamline, and easier to wield than her old rifle.

"The range and power are approximately the same as the M-42." Marcus continued. "There are, however, several noticeable changes in the design. The ammo indicator now displays the exact number of pulses left in the current energy cell. A full cell contains enough energy for exactly sixty shots. When the cell is depleted, it will be automatically ejected from the weapon."

"That'll be useful." commented Kara. "Cuts the reload time in half. Anything else I should be aware of?"

"One other thing. The weapon will automatically shut down if it starts to overheat. It will take ten seconds for it to come back online. This can be disadvantageous in the middle of a battle. I recommend you actually pay attention to the power readings from now on."

"I'll try. No guarantees though." said Kara with a grin. She slung the rifle over her shoulder. "Thanks, Marcus."

Marcus nodded. "You're welcome, lieutenant."

Kara nodded back before turning to leave. "See you around."

When Kara exited the armory, she found Becka waiting for her. The two women stared at each other in silence for a second.

"Lieutenant." Becka said respectfully, giving Kara a salute.

Kara nodded back. "Sergeant."

"Permission to speak freely, ma'am."

"Permission granted."

"Look, Starbuck." said Becka apologetically, "I'm sorry about what I did last night. I-I don't know what came over me... I-I was-"

Kara smirked slightly. "You were being a bitch."

"Yeah, I guess I was." Becka sighed and looked down at her feet. "I have nothing personal against Cameron. It-it just worries me that you put so much trust in it."

"Her."

"All right, fine. Her. I'm worried that you trust her so much."

"She's my partner." Kara stated firmly, "I have to trust her."

"But you can't let your guard down. Do that and you're dead." said Becka. "Didn't you hear what happened last week at Bunker Four? A scrubbed machine went berserk for no reason and killed over thirty people before they brought it down."

"Shit happens, Becka." Kara said quietly, "And machines aren't the only things that suddenly go bad, you know. People go bad too for no reason."

Becka nodded. "I know." she replied, "But it takes time for a person to go bad. They have to consciously decide to betray you. At least with people, you have a chance to raise your defenses. You won't get that chance with a machine. A machine doesn't decide to go bad. It just goes bad. That's why I'm worried. If-if Cameron goes bad and you have your back turned to her when that happens, you're dead."

Kara laughed darkly. "I hate to break this to you, Becka, but if Cameron goes bad and she's in the same room with me, I'm dead no matter what direction I'm facing."

Her tone then became more serious. "I understand why you're worried, Becka." she stated, "And in some ways I share your concerns. But the fact is that we're fighting a war against an enemy with superior numbers, resources, and intelligence. We need whatever we can get our hands on if we're gonna win. I mean, I don't see anyone complaining about using plasma rifles which we stole from Skynet."

"I know, Starbuck, I know." said Becka, "I spent my first years in the Resistance cannibalizing wrecked HKs for spare parts. I don't have a problem with using Skynet's own technology against it. In fact, I'm all for it. But we shouldn't get attached to that technology. That's how we ended up in this mess."

"Meaning what?" asked Kara.

"Meaning..." Becka sighed, "You do realize, Starbuck, that when this war is over, Cameron will have to be destroyed?"

Kara was silent for a few seconds. "Actually," she murmured, "that thought never really crossed my mind. But now that you mention it..." She paused to think. "...I guess that is a very likely possibility."

"We allowed our obsession with technology to get ahead of us. And now we're fighting to survive against that technology." said Becka quietly, "We can't let that happen again."

Kara shook her head and sighed. "Becka," she replied, "I hate to tell you this, but I don't think we can stop technology. It's in our nature to invent - to create. It's not creating the technology that's the problem. It's how we use that technology. And in the case of Cameron, it's how we treat her."

Becka stared at Kara. "Treat her?"

"Cameron's a sentient being, Becka." stated Kara, "She should be treated like one. She's not a light bulb that can be turned on and off whenever one pleases just like that."

And just like that, the ceiling lights went out and the corridor plunged into total darkness.

"Ummmm... ok." muttered Kara awkwardly, "I swear I had nothing to do with that."

To their relief, emergency power kicked in a few moments later, so at least they could see again.

"I'd better check in with Command." Kara said.

Kara headed over to a nearby wall with a corded phone attached to it. She dialed a number and put the receiver to her ear. She heard nothing, however. Not even a buzz.

"Frak." she sighed, "The line's dead. Guess the lights aren't the only thing that went out in this area."

"It is not just this area."

Kara and Becka turned to see Marcus emerge from the armory with an M-42 plasma rifle in his hand.

"The entire base has lost power." reported the scrubbed Triple-Eight.

"The entire base?" repeated a horrified Becka.

"Affirmative." said Marcus.

"Oh hell." groaned Kara, "Sabotage?"

"That is the most likely explanation." stated Marcus.

"Shit." cursed Becka, "What do we do now?"

"All right, all right. Let me think for a moment..." said Kara. "If we can't contact the command center, then we'd better get up there ourselves. Figure out what exactly is going on-"

A horrified scream suddenly echoed down the hallway cutting Kara off in mid-sentence. They heard a series of loud crashes followed by more screams. Then all was quiet again.

Reacting on instinct, Kara took off in the direction the commotion had come from. She rounded the corner and made a grim discovery. Two Resistance fighters lay dead on the floor, their faces contorted in agony.

"Frak." muttered Kara under her breath.

Marcus and Becka caught up with her a moment later.

"Christ." hissed Becka. She knelt down to examine the bodies. "Hey, look at this, guys."

Kara and Marcus stepped closer to get a better look. Both bodies had small but ugly-looking burn marks all over their pain-ridden faces.

"Those don't look like plasma burns." said Kara, trying to ignore the dead men's tortured looks.

Marcus knelt down beside the bodies and ran a finger over the wounds on each corpse.

"Hydrofluoric acid." he stated. "These burns were caused by hydrofluoric acid."

"It's probably what killed them too." added Becka grimly, "Hydrofluoric acid dissolves the skin pretty fast and can cause cardiac arrest once in the bloodstream. But what could have done th- AUGH!!"

Something crawled out from underneath one of the corpses and leapt onto Becka's face.

"MOTHERFUCKER!" Becka sprang to her feet and began thrashing about. "GET IT OFF!" she screamed, "GET IT OFF!"

Kara moved to help her friend, but Marcus got there first. With one tug, he ripped the thing off Becka's face and hurled it fifty feet down the hall. The thing quickly recovered from the crash and began scuttling towards the trio.

Kara stared at the attacker. It looked like a large four-legged metal spider with scorpion-like pincer claws. The metal creature made ominous clicking sounds as it approached.

Unperturbed, Marcus raised his plasma rifle and swiftly disintegrated it with a single shot.

The threat gone, Kara rushed to Becka. "Are you all right, Becka?" she asked her friend.

Becka nodded. She was breathing hard but she didn't look hurt. "I'm fine, Starbuck. I'm fine." she said.

"What the hell was that thing?" Kara asked Marcus.

"A Gremlin." answered Marcus, "A highly sophisticated, mobile infiltration device created by Skynet."

"That little bastard killed these men?" said Kara incredulously.

"The Gremlin is designed to conduct espionage, sabotage, and assassination." stated Marcus, "One of its weapons is highly-concentrated hydrofluoric acid. However, it is unlikely that the one we encountered was solely responsible for killing both these men."

"Then how did-"

"Uhhh... guys." called out Becka who was looking down the corridor, "I think we have a problem."

Kara stared in the direction Becka was looking in.

"Oh frak." she thought.

A dozen Gremlins were coming at them, crawling on the floor and along the walls at frightening speed. The machines whipped up a mad frenzy of clicks as they approached.

Kara raised her SIG-44B. "Looks like I won't need to go to the shooting range after all." she thought.

She and Marcus blazed away at the incoming swarm with automatic plasma fire. Becka pulled out her side arm and joined them. Small, fragile, and relatively unarmored, the Gremlins quickly fell to barrages of plasma bolts and bullets. But before anyone could even say "that was too easy," a second, much larger wave came scuttling down the corridor.

The Resistance fighters held their ground and opened fire. Every shot found its mark, destroying or damaging a Gremlin. But every shot also used a round of ammunition - which the three quickly discovered they didn't have much of.

Kara's rifle ejected its depleted energy cell. "That was my last one." she said grimly.

"I've got just two clips left." Becka called out.

"I count fifty-seven remaining hostiles in the immediate area." stated Marcus, "I suggest we fall back to the armory and take refuge there."

Neither Kara nor Becka had any objections.

The three of them made it back to the armory alive. The angry Gremlins were right behind them, however. Marcus slid the heavy door open with one hand and fired his plasma rifle with the other.

"Get in." he ordered. "Quickly." The Gremlins were mere feet away by now.

Kara and Becka hastily filed into the room. Marcus fired his remaining plasma pulses off before joining them. He started to slide the door back into place, when without warning a Gremlin at the head of the mob slipped in. Before anyone could stop it, the machine ran up Marcus's leg, onto his back, and attached itself to the side of his head. It wrapped its metal legs and razor sharp appendages around him in a vice-like grip.

Ignoring the attacker clamped to his head, Marcus finished shutting the door, sealing the room off from the rest of the horde. He then slid two heavy bolts across, securing the door in place.

That task done, Marcus reached up to deal with the Gremlin attached to his head. The Gremlin held on tightly, but Marcus succeeded in peeling it off, though he lost an ear in the process. He then took the struggling machine in his hands and ripped it in half.

Kara and Becka moved forward to assist Marcus, but Marcus suddenly called out: "Stop!"

"What is it, Marcus?" asked Kara, "What's wrong?"

"My CPU has been compromised." stated Marcus. "The Gremlin was able to infiltrate my programming before I could destroy it."

"Oh my God." gasped Becka.

"What's it done to you?" asked an equally horrified Kara.

"I am running a diagnostic now." said Marcus.

Kara and Becka waited in silence while Marcus ran his diagnostic. Both dreaded what the Triple-Eight would say next.

Their fears were justified when Marcus reported: "My CPU is sending a repeating command to my nuclear power source instructing it to increase its energy output at an exponential rate. In exactly ten minutes and fifty-three seconds, my power source will overload. The explosion will be equivalent to that of a zero-point-five kiloton nuclear detonation."

Both women swore at the exact same time:

"FRAK!"

"FUCK!"

"Indeed." said Marcus.

Kara tried to pull herself back together. "Ok, ok... Marcus, is there anything we can do?"

"Yes." said Marcus, "My CPU must be destroyed."

"What?!" exclaimed Kara.

"It is the only way to stop the overload." explained Marcus calmly. "I cannot self-terminate. Therefore, you must do it."

"But-but if we destroy your CPU" stammered Becka, "you'll die."

"Yes." Marcus acknowledged, "But if my power source overloads, everyone in this room will die and Fort Leopard itself will suffer significant damage."

Kara shook her head. "There must be another way. Can't we just remove your chip?"

"Negative." replied Marcus, "The Gremlin fused my cranial access port. The chip cannot be removed in time. The only acceptable option is to destroy my CPU. It must be done, lieutenant. There is no other way."

Kara took a deep breath and sighed. She then nodded her head and said softly: "All right... I'll do it."

"Power cells are in that crate." Marcus said, pointing to a nearby crate.

Kara opened the crate, retrieved a fresh power cell, and loaded it into her plasma rifle. The weapon hummed with power. Trying very hard not to show any emotion, Kara raised her plasma rifle and aimed it at Marcus's head. She started to pull the trigger...

"WAIT!"

Startled, Kara nearly dropped her weapon as Becka came running up to her.

"What if..." said Becka, "What if we just disconnected the power source instead? Would that stop the overload without killing him?"

"I-I don't know." murmured Kara. She turned to Marcus. "Would that work?"

Marcus took a moment to consider this option. "Yes." he said. "But you would have to physically remove the power source from my chassis."

"Can you show us where your power source is located?"

"Yes."

"All right then." said Kara. She offered her plasma rifle to Becka. "If anything goes wrong, blast the chip."

But Becka refused to take the rifle. "No." she said quietly, "You're not doing this."

"But you were the one who suggested-"

"I'm doing this."

"What? But you don't know how to-"

"I'm a combat medic." Becka asserted, "This is my job. I can do this. I will do this, Starbuck."

Kara looked at Marcus again. "How much time do we have left?"

"Six minutes and twenty-two seconds." stated Marcus.

"Think you can do surgery in under six minutes?" Kara asked Becka.

"I don't know." said Becka, "Can you?"

"No."

"That's what I thought."

A minute later, Marcus had been stripped to the waist and was lying on the floor. Becka was kneeling over him with a knife in one hand. She was nervous. Very nervous. Kara didn't blame her. If Becka screwed this operation up, she was gonna get one hell of a malpractice suit. A half-a-kiloton nuclear malpractice suit to be precise.

"Are you ready?" asked Marcus.

Becka nodded. "Just don't tell me how much time I have left, ok?"

"Understood."

Becka swallowed. "What do I do first?"

"Create an incision in my abdominal area." instructed Marcus. "Large enough to fit your hand through."

"Ok." Becka took a deep breath and proceeded to slide the blade of knife across Marcus's exposed belly, opening it up.

"Now, insert your hand into the opening." ordered Marcus.

Becka put the knife down and slowly sank her right hand into Marcus's stomach. She was wearing gloves, but she still shuddered as she pushed into the cyborg.

"There should be a space underneath the chest plating." Marcus continued, "Move your hand up there to the center where the human heart would be located."

Kara watched silently as Becka pushed deeper into Marcus, sinking her arm halfway to the elbow. Becka's breathing was shallow and sweat was dripping down her face. There was also intense concentration in her eyes. Her look of determination made Kara proud to call this woman her best friend.

"There's something solid here." said Becka.

"What does it feel like?" Marcus asked.

"Squarish." replied Becka, "Like a metal box. It's cold."

"That is the power source." stated Marcus. "It should be safe to handle if it's still cold."

"How do I disconnect it?" asked Becka.

"Underneath is a thick cable that connects the nuclear power source to my chassis. Simply pull the cable."

Becka wigged her hand around. "I think I've got it."

"The cable is not meant to come out easily. You will need to pull hard."

Becka nodded. "Ok." She then tightened her shoulder muscles and gritted her teeth. Kara felt the muscles in her own body tense.

Becka took a deep breath. "One... two... three!" She jerked her arm downwards. Marcus twitched his head and then was still again. Complete silence descended upon the room. Becka slowly looked up and gave Kara a nod. Kara breathed a sigh of relief.

Becka withdrew her hand from the now powered-down Triple-Eight and when it emerged, Kara saw she was holding in her blood covered hand what was obviously Marcus's power source.

"How much time do you think we had left?" she asked Kara.

"I don't want to know." replied Kara with a weak smile.

"Good. Me neither."

Her job done, Becka stood up and placed the deactivated power source on a nearby table.

"So, now what do we do?" she asked.

"Well." said Kara, "I'm sure someone will be able to remove Marcus's chip. We'll give it to Mr. Hodgins. He'll be able to fix it up. Meanwhile, the repair techs can put that power source back-"

"I meant what do we do now?" Becka interrupted. "As in right now. In case you've forgotten, there's still a pack of vicious Gremlins outside this room."

"Oh right." Kara chuckled, "Thanks for reminding me. Yeah... about them. Hmmmm... Well, there are a lot of weapons here. I say grab what we can carry and blast our way out."

Becka raised her eyebrows. "Blast our way out? Just us two?"

"Come on, Becka." Kara grinned, "We've faced worse together."

"Not much worse-"

Becka was cut off by a loud knock at the door.

"Is anyone in there? Hello? Anyone in there?"

Kara slowly opened the door and cautiously peered outside. A group of armed Resistance fighters was there to greet her.

The man in charge saluted Kara. "Sergeant Jones, ma'am."

Kara saluted back. "What's the situation here, sergeant?"

"Main power's back in most sections, ma'am. And we're almost done mopping up the little bastards."

Kara noticed bits and pieces of Gremlins strewn all over the floor of the corridor.

"Damn... Looks like they had all the fun." she thought to herself in disappointment.

"Who else is in there ma'am?" asked Jones.

"Just two others." answered Kara.

"Is anyone hurt?"

Kara shook her head. "Everyone's fine. Do you and your men need any help out there?"

"No, ma'am. I think we've got this section clear."

"Good. We'll hold this area. You and your squad go clean house."

"Yes, ma'am." Sergeant Jones saluted and then turned to the rest of his squad. "Let's move out people! On the double! Move!"

Kara closed the door and turned back to Becka who was sitting in a corner of the room. Her right arm was still covered in Marcus's blood.

Kara sat down next to her. "They've got things under control out there."

Becka nodded. "That's good news." she said casually.

Kara sighed. "You did the right thing, Becka. Thank you."

"No. Thank you, Starbuck. For making me realize."

"Realize what?"

Becka looked Kara in the eyes and said quietly, "Just before the power went out, you told me: It's not creating the technology that's the problem. It's how we use that technology."

"That's right." said Kara.

Becka gazed at Marcus's inert body. "They say the difference between a human and machine is that a machine can be replaced but a human can't be. That when a human dies, something unique is lost forever. But it's not just humans that can't be replaced. Life itself is irreplaceable. Being alive is something you can only experience once." (Kara resisted the urge to smirk.)

Becka looked at Kara again. "Before today," she whispered, "I never considered Marcus to be alive."

"What changed your mind?" Kara asked curiously.

"I'm not quite sure." Becka admitted with a sigh, "Maybe it was when he pulled that Gremlin off me. Maybe it was when he sealed the room at the cost of his chip being compromised. Maybe it was when he was willing to die to protect us. I don't know. All I know is that Marcus is a life form. Not the same type of life form that you and I are, but he is alive."

"And that's why you saved him." said Kara, "Because you realized he could never be replaced."

Becka nodded. "If we didn't at least try to save him, we'd be treating him no differently than Skynet."

"I know what you mean." said Kara, "Skynet would have let Marcus die. Like it's let so many other sentient beings - humans and machines - die just so that it can survive."

"Yeah," whispered Becka, "Skynet doesn't understand what it means to be alive. It only knows how to exist."

She stared at Marcus's body again. "Do you think Marcus or Cameron or any of the machines understand what it means to be alive?"

"I don't know." said Kara, "Like you said, they were built to take lives. But they've also saved lives. They weren't built for that, yet they've done it. Maybe... maybe on some level they do understand the value of life."

Becka was silent for a few seconds. Then she asked softly, "Starbuck, do you really love me like a sister?"

Kara nodded. "Of course."

"Have you ever had a sister before?"

Kara shook her head. "No."

Becka smiled. "Well, you do now."

Kara smiled back. "Thanks, Becka."

A/N: Next Chapter: Sarah meets Weaver. There are two Terminator-on-Terminator fights. And the issue of what happened to Derek when he was captured by Skynet ("Dungeons and Dragons") is brought up.

A/N2: The Gremlins' physical appearance is based off the Replicators from Stargate SG1 and on the Alien Facehuggers.

A/N3: If there really was a nuclear apocalypse, I honestly think Switzerland would have a good chance of surviving for various reasons.

Here's an excerpt from next chapter:

"What are you thinking, Sarah?" asked Kara.

"Well, we're hearing one of his songs in our dreams." said Sarah, "And the AI at Zeira Corp taught that same song to Savannah."

Kara nodded. "So, could Bob Dylan be connected to Skynet?"

There was a moment of silence. Then both women shook their heads and muttered, "Naaahhhh."