Chapter 2
"Starbuck? You with me?"
Lee repeated the words for the third time. Finally he heard some crackle from the wireless. "Present," she mumbled. "And damn, I'm cold."
"We'll be warm soon enough," he told her. "We're coming up on the planet. About forty clicks. You have it on nav com?"
"Affirmative," she answered, less sluggishly. They had been sleeping in shifts for the last two days, and it was boring work. While one would sleep - relying on the auto-pilot to stay the course - the other would make sure that there was nothing in their path and that the ships were indeed flying true to their destination.
They had ejected the second fuel tank over eight hours before, and Lee was not pleased to note that they would be making it in on fumes. It was part of the plan, of course. Everything so far had been completely by the book. That didn't mean he was comfortable knowing there was no possible way to get his ship back home. Nor could he call for help. Such a call would undoubtedly be picked up as a long-range transmission, and lead the Cylons right to the fleet. It was a risk they couldn't take. He could only hope and pray that they got the launch sites out of commission before the tanker materialized near the planet. Hell, they couldn't even be sure the tanker was on the way. It was a mission of blind faith, and that wasn't something Lee particularly trusted.
"How's your fuel?" he asked her.
"Right where it should be," she answered. "But I don't think I'll be able to make more than two runs at the launch sites. It's gonna be tight landing even with two passes."
"Same here," he agreed. "We'd better make them count."
They didn't bother talking as they made an approach to the planet. It was possible that wireless transmissions would be detected. After all, that was how they had found the Cylons here in the first place.
Lee and Kara descended into the atmosphere of the planet, using what little cloud cover was present to hide their vapor trails. The terrain below was rocky, with hills and vegetation making it difficult to see a place where they could land. With the vertical thrusters, it wouldn't take much room - perhaps twenty square feet for each of them - but even that much level ground looked pretty rare.
They had no way to know if they were being scanned, nor any way to scan for Cylons. It was strictly line-of-sight, without their usual electronic backup, and Lee didn't know if that made it better or worse. He didn't know for sure that they were in trouble, but he suspected that if they hadn't been detected yet, it wouldn't be long.
Almost at the instant the thought crossed his mind, he caught a flash of movement from the clouds above his cockpit. A quick glance confirmed that it was a Cylon fighter. This was where the fun began.
"Starbuck, you take the deck and I'll take the fighter. Make two runs, then land. Copy?"
"You got it," she replied, her voice taking on the usual excitement of battle. He didn't have to worry. She would do her job.
Knowing that, he was free to pull the Viper around and fire at the Cylon that was now doing its best to get him in its sights. He sent off a quick volley, and the fighter obligingly blew apart. That was one.
It didn't take long before there were more. He was as low on fuel as Starbuck, but it was his job to keep them off her back so she could take out the launch site. She wouldn't tell him when she was done, but would land at the site they had decided on before the mission began. So he dedicated himself to not staying on one course for more than a few seconds at a time. He flew vertically, turned quickly, and fired in short bursts that tore the Cylon craft apart. He had counted eight so far that had been in the air, but he might have missed some.
He swung around for another pass near the launch sites and saw smoke and debris filing the air. Kara had done her job all right. Nothing would be coming out of that mountain. He only hoped it was the only launch site in the area. There could be some on the other side of the planet, a more desert-like environment, but he certainly hoped not.
He managed one more sweep of the area before he was satisfied that he had cleared the air. He couldn't radio Kara - it might give away her position - but he had to believe that she was already on the ground. His engine wasn't sounding particularly steady, and landing was not going to be optional.
The terrain had a relatively bare area just behind the fuel depot, perhaps two miles away. It was going to be a hell of a hike, but it was the closest thing that was a possibility. He headed for the site, grateful to see that Kara was already down and out of her Viper, on her way to a hill that could provide some cover if any other fighters came overhead. It wouldn't likely help with ground troops, but it was the best they had to work with.
His landing was a long way from graceful. Looking at his wrist, he saw that they were right on schedule. The tanker should jump into the area within minutes. It would come down quickly, hopefully before it could be spotted, and they would somehow manage the fueling. That was the next project. He and Kara needed to get to the depot before any Cylons came to check out the Vipers that had just landed in their back yard.
Lee popped his canopy as soon as his engines cut off. He tapped in a few keys to the computer, and watched as the sequence began to completely wipe out all navigational and flight information. The Viper would be useless if it was found. He wished they had the ability to destroy them, but they had neither the explosives nor the time.
He nearly tripped over the plastic container that contained his waste from the trip. Kara had been more than relieved when Salik had presented them with a vacuum assembly rather than the dreaded catheters. It wasn't as neat, but it felt a hell of a lot better.
Lee took off for the nearby hills at a run. The atmosphere was a little thin, but not so thin that they needed breathers. That saved time, but it also meant they would tire easily and they still had a long way to go.
"Nice landing," Kara remarked as he jogged up next to her. "Were you completely dry?"
"Pretty much," he admitted. "You?"
"The same. Did you see any company on your way down."
Lee checked his side arm in a habitual manner. "Nope. Looks like you dusted them good. We should only have to deal with the depot, and whatever guards are there."
"Good," she remarked. "Ready to run."
"Ladies first," he said with a grin, and settled in to an easy jog beside her. It wasn't the fastest they had ever run, but with the lower oxygen content in the air it was probably the best they could do. Blood sugar wasn't an issue. Both he and Kara had been on Salik's supplements and glucose solutions since they'd launched. It wasn't appetizing, and it did nothing for the persistent hunger, but it kept them going.
As he stretched out his legs, Lee actually felt pretty good. Sitting in a Viper for two days was a long way from comfortable, and the pins and needles feeling that he'd had upon leaving the Viper was gradually diminishing. They had been running for nearly five minutes, and Kara was just getting into her stride. The vegetation and rocks kept them to a slower pace than he would have liked, but they were steady.
He saw the shadow before he heard the engines of the tanker as it descended from above, right on schedule. His father had put Colonel Tigh in charge of the tanker, and had even loaded an extra four warriors to the compliment. The Raptor would be just above, with another two warriors. He hoped it would be enough to take out whatever awaited them at the depot.
Kara did her best to keep her breath as they ran towards the depot. If she had thought the Viper was cold, it was nothing to the air around them. She didn't know the elevation, but it must have been high. Even running, she was chilled.
Lee was right on her heels, as she had known he would be. She'd had a few nervous moments watching him land, but he was nearly as good as she was for flying dry. Smooth or not, he'd landed the Viper within a few feet of hers.
They were just coming in behind the depot when she heard the shots. Jerking around, she pulled her sidearm and aimed at the same time that Lee did. He was a hair faster, and had the machine in pieces before she could get off a shot. From the sound of it, though, there were more. She could hear repeated firing from the area of the depot. Approaching the hill that the depot was located within, nearly hidden if you didn't have equipment to detect Tylium or a map to guide you, she veered to the left. They would have to come around the hill to the front of a bunker-like structure, and they had to manage it without getting shot by one of their own in addition to looking out for Cylons.
If that thing was indeed a Cylon. It didn't look like the chrome toasters that the history books showed. It had been almost a fluid metal, its weaponry built right into what appeared to be an arm. Thankfully, it had flown apart quite nicely when Lee shot it.
"Take left," Lee called out from behind her. "I'll go right. Take out anything metal."
She didn't waste breath to acknowledge the order, but followed directions and continued on her current path. Thankfully there was a good deal of cover, and the Cylons didn't appear to know how to use it. She kept herself behind trees and rocks as much as possible, taking out miscellaneous Cylons as she approached. Only when she saw the gray of a colonial uniform did she allow herself to relax. She was nearly face to face with the soldier by the time he saw her, and he must have jumped three feet.
"You made it," he remarked.
She didn't know his name, but she knew he worked on the prison barge. She had met him once when they had been - ironically - delivering fuel. "How we looking?" she called out, taking her place beside him to cover the approach to the depot.
"Pretty clear," he told her. "It was dicey when we first landed. We must have taken out thirty of those things. They just kept coming. I think we've picked them off now, though, unless they've called in friends."
"Hopefully their friends are dust," she remarked.
"Looked like it from the air," he agreed.
They were silent then, listening for movement and watching for the flash of metal. It didn't come. Time stretched, and Kara's arms began to ache as she held her gun at shoulder height, prepared to shoot if necessary.
"We're clear," she heard from the direction of the depot. "Let's go."
Kara turned and followed the soldier towards the tanker. Tigh was standing at the bottom of the ramp to the tanker, overseeing and not doing much else. She had no clue why the Commander had insisted he come.
She had just placed one foot on the ramp, ready to board the tanker, when all hell broke loose behind her. She turned quickly to see not machinery, but what looked like people coming up from the bunker. They carried weapons, and they weren't afraid to use them.
But that wasn't what caught her eye. The people coming up were clearly Cylon. They appeared to be cloned or something, because most of them were identical. There were men and women both, dressed in various outfits, but all carrying guns at the ready. Tigh was already on the ramp, calling for everyone to get aboard. She couldn't blame him. There were far too many to fight.
Then time stopped as she caught a glimpse of three women with long black hair emerging from the depot. Women who, remarkably, looked exactly like one of their Raptor pilots. The sight froze Kara in her tracks as her mind tried to wrap around the concept of a Cylon looking like Sharon.
She might have stood there until they shot her, but Tigh had other ideas. "Get the hell on board," he screamed as he pushed her up the ramp. "We have to get this thing in the air."
She could already hear the engine of the Raptor roaring to life. From the corner of her eye she saw it lift, ready to provide the cover they would need to get the tanker off the ground. Kara looked around the interior of the tanker and startled. "Where's Apollo?" she yelled over the igniting engines of the tanker.
"Probably on the Raptor," one of the soldiers called out. "I saw him come around the bunker. He was on their side when it all came apart."
Kara nodded, but she felt uneasy. Lee was supposed to have headed for the tanker, because the Raptor was tighter on weight limitations. "Check," she told the pilot at the helm. "Micah, be sure Lee's on the Raptor."
"I'm a little busy," he muttered as an explosion nearby rocked the tanker. She couldn't argue with that. He needed all his concentration to just get them airborne as heavy as they were. She backed into a seat and strapped herself in for the jump. As soon as they cleared the atmosphere, the tanker would jump. Until then, they were riding on the biggest potential bomb she had ever known.
She held her breath as they moved up towards the jump point. She absolutely hated being a passenger, and would have been much more comfortable at the helm, even without experience with this particular craft. It didn't help that Tigh was sitting across from her looking like he was angry at the world. Not that she cared what he was mad at, but her priority was just getting through the next few minutes.
When they finally jumped, she felt a burst of panic rather then the anticipated relief. She couldn't reason out the feeling; they were in the clear. Jumps couldn't be traced, and in a few hours they'd have the fleet refueled and be so far from here that the Cylons couldn't find them. But the feeling didn't pass - a cold dread unlike anything she'd felt since she had watched Zak's plane careen into a hanger wall. She took a few deep breaths, trying to ease the pressure in her chest, but it didn't help. Something was definitely very wrong. She could feel it. She just didn't know what the hell it was.
Lee clutched his leg and stumbled again. Thankfully, whatever weapon the Cylons was using seemed to cauterize as it went, because there wasn't much blood. That was good. He didn't want to leave a trail. He was even grateful for the rocky ground, because he wasn't leaving tracks for them to follow.
He could hear the tanker above him, its engine sound fading as it headed up into the atmosphere. He said a quick prayer that it would make it to the fleet as he got to his feet once more.
He didn't really know what he planned to do. When the pain had hit his leg, he had followed instinct and hit the ground, staying there while the Cylons marched past towards the tanker. They didn't bother to check him, probably assuming he was dead, and he didn't make any noise to attract their attention.
Under the cover of brush, he had eased himself around until the Raptor had begun to rise, then used the sound to cover a dash into the wooded area behind the bunkers. His only thought then had been to get clear and avoid capture. Moments later, adrenaline finally falling, he had realized just how much pain he was going to be in. Still it hadn't occurred to him that he was alone for another couple of minutes.
He was alone. He was cold. He was shot.
This was not going at all like he had planned. He stumbled once more and finally got disgusted with trying to run on the rocky terrain with a leg that was supporting him inconsistently at best. He needed cover, and he needed it quickly.
He wasn't sure what sent him in the direction of the Vipers. Perhaps it was the cursory glance he'd had of the area as he and Kara had run through. Kara. Oh , God, this would make her crazy. He had seen her make the ramp, so he knew they had her aboard. At least she was safe.
He couldn't go all the way to the Vipers. Obviously the Cylons would check them out, and that wasn't where he wanted to be. Instead, he went about half-way and then ducked into a cave-like structure that had nearly tripped Kara when they'd made the run to the depot. It wasn't deep, but it was solid rock on three sides and provided enough cover that he didn't have to worry about detection. The last thing he needed was for them to get a hold of him. He knew things that would definitely compromise the well-being of the fleet, and it was vital that he not be captured.
If he'd still had his sidearm, he would have taken care of the possibility, but it had been dropped when he was shot. There were other ways to kill himself - which was probably the safest course of action - but at the moment he was far more concerned about keeping himself out of Cylon hands until he could make it happen. Truthfully, if he could stay away from them for a few hours, the problem would be academic. It wasn't much above freezing, and once he stopped moving hypothermia wouldn't take long to set in. They said it wasn't a terrible way to die.
Tucked back into the rock, he did his best to get his breathing calm and under control. The thin air had him gasping, and was much too noisy. For that matter he'd made an awful lot of noise getting this far. He could only hope that the Cylons thought everyone was on board when the ships took off. Maybe they wouldn't even look for him.
Huddled around himself, shivering in the cold and trying to ignore the pain in his leg, Lee stayed put. They might miss him, but luck had not been on his side today. He wasn't going to take chances by moving around.
Silence descended into the forest as his breathing stilled. He locked his jaw tightly to keep his teeth from chattering and put his head on his knees. It seemed a little late, but he said a quick prayer anyway. The prayer was not for his safety, but for his family. He prayed that what had happened was worth it, and that the fleet would get away. He prayed his father could survive losing another child. And he prayed that Kara would be able to forgive herself this time.
"Starbuck? You with me?"
Lee repeated the words for the third time. Finally he heard some crackle from the wireless. "Present," she mumbled. "And damn, I'm cold."
"We'll be warm soon enough," he told her. "We're coming up on the planet. About forty clicks. You have it on nav com?"
"Affirmative," she answered, less sluggishly. They had been sleeping in shifts for the last two days, and it was boring work. While one would sleep - relying on the auto-pilot to stay the course - the other would make sure that there was nothing in their path and that the ships were indeed flying true to their destination.
They had ejected the second fuel tank over eight hours before, and Lee was not pleased to note that they would be making it in on fumes. It was part of the plan, of course. Everything so far had been completely by the book. That didn't mean he was comfortable knowing there was no possible way to get his ship back home. Nor could he call for help. Such a call would undoubtedly be picked up as a long-range transmission, and lead the Cylons right to the fleet. It was a risk they couldn't take. He could only hope and pray that they got the launch sites out of commission before the tanker materialized near the planet. Hell, they couldn't even be sure the tanker was on the way. It was a mission of blind faith, and that wasn't something Lee particularly trusted.
"How's your fuel?" he asked her.
"Right where it should be," she answered. "But I don't think I'll be able to make more than two runs at the launch sites. It's gonna be tight landing even with two passes."
"Same here," he agreed. "We'd better make them count."
They didn't bother talking as they made an approach to the planet. It was possible that wireless transmissions would be detected. After all, that was how they had found the Cylons here in the first place.
Lee and Kara descended into the atmosphere of the planet, using what little cloud cover was present to hide their vapor trails. The terrain below was rocky, with hills and vegetation making it difficult to see a place where they could land. With the vertical thrusters, it wouldn't take much room - perhaps twenty square feet for each of them - but even that much level ground looked pretty rare.
They had no way to know if they were being scanned, nor any way to scan for Cylons. It was strictly line-of-sight, without their usual electronic backup, and Lee didn't know if that made it better or worse. He didn't know for sure that they were in trouble, but he suspected that if they hadn't been detected yet, it wouldn't be long.
Almost at the instant the thought crossed his mind, he caught a flash of movement from the clouds above his cockpit. A quick glance confirmed that it was a Cylon fighter. This was where the fun began.
"Starbuck, you take the deck and I'll take the fighter. Make two runs, then land. Copy?"
"You got it," she replied, her voice taking on the usual excitement of battle. He didn't have to worry. She would do her job.
Knowing that, he was free to pull the Viper around and fire at the Cylon that was now doing its best to get him in its sights. He sent off a quick volley, and the fighter obligingly blew apart. That was one.
It didn't take long before there were more. He was as low on fuel as Starbuck, but it was his job to keep them off her back so she could take out the launch site. She wouldn't tell him when she was done, but would land at the site they had decided on before the mission began. So he dedicated himself to not staying on one course for more than a few seconds at a time. He flew vertically, turned quickly, and fired in short bursts that tore the Cylon craft apart. He had counted eight so far that had been in the air, but he might have missed some.
He swung around for another pass near the launch sites and saw smoke and debris filing the air. Kara had done her job all right. Nothing would be coming out of that mountain. He only hoped it was the only launch site in the area. There could be some on the other side of the planet, a more desert-like environment, but he certainly hoped not.
He managed one more sweep of the area before he was satisfied that he had cleared the air. He couldn't radio Kara - it might give away her position - but he had to believe that she was already on the ground. His engine wasn't sounding particularly steady, and landing was not going to be optional.
The terrain had a relatively bare area just behind the fuel depot, perhaps two miles away. It was going to be a hell of a hike, but it was the closest thing that was a possibility. He headed for the site, grateful to see that Kara was already down and out of her Viper, on her way to a hill that could provide some cover if any other fighters came overhead. It wouldn't likely help with ground troops, but it was the best they had to work with.
His landing was a long way from graceful. Looking at his wrist, he saw that they were right on schedule. The tanker should jump into the area within minutes. It would come down quickly, hopefully before it could be spotted, and they would somehow manage the fueling. That was the next project. He and Kara needed to get to the depot before any Cylons came to check out the Vipers that had just landed in their back yard.
Lee popped his canopy as soon as his engines cut off. He tapped in a few keys to the computer, and watched as the sequence began to completely wipe out all navigational and flight information. The Viper would be useless if it was found. He wished they had the ability to destroy them, but they had neither the explosives nor the time.
He nearly tripped over the plastic container that contained his waste from the trip. Kara had been more than relieved when Salik had presented them with a vacuum assembly rather than the dreaded catheters. It wasn't as neat, but it felt a hell of a lot better.
Lee took off for the nearby hills at a run. The atmosphere was a little thin, but not so thin that they needed breathers. That saved time, but it also meant they would tire easily and they still had a long way to go.
"Nice landing," Kara remarked as he jogged up next to her. "Were you completely dry?"
"Pretty much," he admitted. "You?"
"The same. Did you see any company on your way down."
Lee checked his side arm in a habitual manner. "Nope. Looks like you dusted them good. We should only have to deal with the depot, and whatever guards are there."
"Good," she remarked. "Ready to run."
"Ladies first," he said with a grin, and settled in to an easy jog beside her. It wasn't the fastest they had ever run, but with the lower oxygen content in the air it was probably the best they could do. Blood sugar wasn't an issue. Both he and Kara had been on Salik's supplements and glucose solutions since they'd launched. It wasn't appetizing, and it did nothing for the persistent hunger, but it kept them going.
As he stretched out his legs, Lee actually felt pretty good. Sitting in a Viper for two days was a long way from comfortable, and the pins and needles feeling that he'd had upon leaving the Viper was gradually diminishing. They had been running for nearly five minutes, and Kara was just getting into her stride. The vegetation and rocks kept them to a slower pace than he would have liked, but they were steady.
He saw the shadow before he heard the engines of the tanker as it descended from above, right on schedule. His father had put Colonel Tigh in charge of the tanker, and had even loaded an extra four warriors to the compliment. The Raptor would be just above, with another two warriors. He hoped it would be enough to take out whatever awaited them at the depot.
Kara did her best to keep her breath as they ran towards the depot. If she had thought the Viper was cold, it was nothing to the air around them. She didn't know the elevation, but it must have been high. Even running, she was chilled.
Lee was right on her heels, as she had known he would be. She'd had a few nervous moments watching him land, but he was nearly as good as she was for flying dry. Smooth or not, he'd landed the Viper within a few feet of hers.
They were just coming in behind the depot when she heard the shots. Jerking around, she pulled her sidearm and aimed at the same time that Lee did. He was a hair faster, and had the machine in pieces before she could get off a shot. From the sound of it, though, there were more. She could hear repeated firing from the area of the depot. Approaching the hill that the depot was located within, nearly hidden if you didn't have equipment to detect Tylium or a map to guide you, she veered to the left. They would have to come around the hill to the front of a bunker-like structure, and they had to manage it without getting shot by one of their own in addition to looking out for Cylons.
If that thing was indeed a Cylon. It didn't look like the chrome toasters that the history books showed. It had been almost a fluid metal, its weaponry built right into what appeared to be an arm. Thankfully, it had flown apart quite nicely when Lee shot it.
"Take left," Lee called out from behind her. "I'll go right. Take out anything metal."
She didn't waste breath to acknowledge the order, but followed directions and continued on her current path. Thankfully there was a good deal of cover, and the Cylons didn't appear to know how to use it. She kept herself behind trees and rocks as much as possible, taking out miscellaneous Cylons as she approached. Only when she saw the gray of a colonial uniform did she allow herself to relax. She was nearly face to face with the soldier by the time he saw her, and he must have jumped three feet.
"You made it," he remarked.
She didn't know his name, but she knew he worked on the prison barge. She had met him once when they had been - ironically - delivering fuel. "How we looking?" she called out, taking her place beside him to cover the approach to the depot.
"Pretty clear," he told her. "It was dicey when we first landed. We must have taken out thirty of those things. They just kept coming. I think we've picked them off now, though, unless they've called in friends."
"Hopefully their friends are dust," she remarked.
"Looked like it from the air," he agreed.
They were silent then, listening for movement and watching for the flash of metal. It didn't come. Time stretched, and Kara's arms began to ache as she held her gun at shoulder height, prepared to shoot if necessary.
"We're clear," she heard from the direction of the depot. "Let's go."
Kara turned and followed the soldier towards the tanker. Tigh was standing at the bottom of the ramp to the tanker, overseeing and not doing much else. She had no clue why the Commander had insisted he come.
She had just placed one foot on the ramp, ready to board the tanker, when all hell broke loose behind her. She turned quickly to see not machinery, but what looked like people coming up from the bunker. They carried weapons, and they weren't afraid to use them.
But that wasn't what caught her eye. The people coming up were clearly Cylon. They appeared to be cloned or something, because most of them were identical. There were men and women both, dressed in various outfits, but all carrying guns at the ready. Tigh was already on the ramp, calling for everyone to get aboard. She couldn't blame him. There were far too many to fight.
Then time stopped as she caught a glimpse of three women with long black hair emerging from the depot. Women who, remarkably, looked exactly like one of their Raptor pilots. The sight froze Kara in her tracks as her mind tried to wrap around the concept of a Cylon looking like Sharon.
She might have stood there until they shot her, but Tigh had other ideas. "Get the hell on board," he screamed as he pushed her up the ramp. "We have to get this thing in the air."
She could already hear the engine of the Raptor roaring to life. From the corner of her eye she saw it lift, ready to provide the cover they would need to get the tanker off the ground. Kara looked around the interior of the tanker and startled. "Where's Apollo?" she yelled over the igniting engines of the tanker.
"Probably on the Raptor," one of the soldiers called out. "I saw him come around the bunker. He was on their side when it all came apart."
Kara nodded, but she felt uneasy. Lee was supposed to have headed for the tanker, because the Raptor was tighter on weight limitations. "Check," she told the pilot at the helm. "Micah, be sure Lee's on the Raptor."
"I'm a little busy," he muttered as an explosion nearby rocked the tanker. She couldn't argue with that. He needed all his concentration to just get them airborne as heavy as they were. She backed into a seat and strapped herself in for the jump. As soon as they cleared the atmosphere, the tanker would jump. Until then, they were riding on the biggest potential bomb she had ever known.
She held her breath as they moved up towards the jump point. She absolutely hated being a passenger, and would have been much more comfortable at the helm, even without experience with this particular craft. It didn't help that Tigh was sitting across from her looking like he was angry at the world. Not that she cared what he was mad at, but her priority was just getting through the next few minutes.
When they finally jumped, she felt a burst of panic rather then the anticipated relief. She couldn't reason out the feeling; they were in the clear. Jumps couldn't be traced, and in a few hours they'd have the fleet refueled and be so far from here that the Cylons couldn't find them. But the feeling didn't pass - a cold dread unlike anything she'd felt since she had watched Zak's plane careen into a hanger wall. She took a few deep breaths, trying to ease the pressure in her chest, but it didn't help. Something was definitely very wrong. She could feel it. She just didn't know what the hell it was.
Lee clutched his leg and stumbled again. Thankfully, whatever weapon the Cylons was using seemed to cauterize as it went, because there wasn't much blood. That was good. He didn't want to leave a trail. He was even grateful for the rocky ground, because he wasn't leaving tracks for them to follow.
He could hear the tanker above him, its engine sound fading as it headed up into the atmosphere. He said a quick prayer that it would make it to the fleet as he got to his feet once more.
He didn't really know what he planned to do. When the pain had hit his leg, he had followed instinct and hit the ground, staying there while the Cylons marched past towards the tanker. They didn't bother to check him, probably assuming he was dead, and he didn't make any noise to attract their attention.
Under the cover of brush, he had eased himself around until the Raptor had begun to rise, then used the sound to cover a dash into the wooded area behind the bunkers. His only thought then had been to get clear and avoid capture. Moments later, adrenaline finally falling, he had realized just how much pain he was going to be in. Still it hadn't occurred to him that he was alone for another couple of minutes.
He was alone. He was cold. He was shot.
This was not going at all like he had planned. He stumbled once more and finally got disgusted with trying to run on the rocky terrain with a leg that was supporting him inconsistently at best. He needed cover, and he needed it quickly.
He wasn't sure what sent him in the direction of the Vipers. Perhaps it was the cursory glance he'd had of the area as he and Kara had run through. Kara. Oh , God, this would make her crazy. He had seen her make the ramp, so he knew they had her aboard. At least she was safe.
He couldn't go all the way to the Vipers. Obviously the Cylons would check them out, and that wasn't where he wanted to be. Instead, he went about half-way and then ducked into a cave-like structure that had nearly tripped Kara when they'd made the run to the depot. It wasn't deep, but it was solid rock on three sides and provided enough cover that he didn't have to worry about detection. The last thing he needed was for them to get a hold of him. He knew things that would definitely compromise the well-being of the fleet, and it was vital that he not be captured.
If he'd still had his sidearm, he would have taken care of the possibility, but it had been dropped when he was shot. There were other ways to kill himself - which was probably the safest course of action - but at the moment he was far more concerned about keeping himself out of Cylon hands until he could make it happen. Truthfully, if he could stay away from them for a few hours, the problem would be academic. It wasn't much above freezing, and once he stopped moving hypothermia wouldn't take long to set in. They said it wasn't a terrible way to die.
Tucked back into the rock, he did his best to get his breathing calm and under control. The thin air had him gasping, and was much too noisy. For that matter he'd made an awful lot of noise getting this far. He could only hope that the Cylons thought everyone was on board when the ships took off. Maybe they wouldn't even look for him.
Huddled around himself, shivering in the cold and trying to ignore the pain in his leg, Lee stayed put. They might miss him, but luck had not been on his side today. He wasn't going to take chances by moving around.
Silence descended into the forest as his breathing stilled. He locked his jaw tightly to keep his teeth from chattering and put his head on his knees. It seemed a little late, but he said a quick prayer anyway. The prayer was not for his safety, but for his family. He prayed that what had happened was worth it, and that the fleet would get away. He prayed his father could survive losing another child. And he prayed that Kara would be able to forgive herself this time.