Sequel to 7 Points
By Chaoseternus Chapter 38: Understanding
It wasn't that he didn't want to believe, he truly did. He may have been a military man but that was because he joined the military as an act of patriotism at a time when the survival of the Colonies depended upon every man women, and far too often, child who could put a uniform on. He had in fact found his home, his reason for being in the military but whilst he had always followed the pessimistic, Hope for the best, plan for the worst' attitude of the military, it didn't override that fact that he, Commander Adama, was at heart an optimist and an old romantic.
The idea of a Cylon turning their back on their people for love played to both of those, the optimistic side that stated that all people, be they human or something else, had a core of good in them, that could be accessed, triggered to make them become better and to the Old Romantic part of him, that just wanted to say awww, she abandoned her people for him, ain't that cute?'
Unfortunately, Adama was a military man and he had learned, often through bitter experience, how often the pessimists got it right and that part of him was wondering, did the cylons plan on using his optimism, his old romantic attitudes in order to help their agent in, their psyche profile saying he would want to believe, was he being manipulated as part of some great cylon plan?
Truth be told, he did want to believe, his instincts told him to believe but that wasn't enough. He was a leader, and he needed to think of his people. The other Boomer had been freed, she was no threat, indeed was a minor celebrity because she had taken the opportunity provided by her freedom' and chosen to continue to fight, this time for the freedom of others. But this Boomer, this 209' wasn't freed, she was pure cylon and yet, she still wanted to help, to be free, to help others be free.
It appealed to him, he had to grab his mind back on the subject and not cyclically go over every point again and again.
Frak, how long had he been standing here shell-shocked, just trapped in his thoughts?
Fine, he either trusted her or he didn't. Which was it to be Commander?
"You will talk to the Tau'ri; you will tell them everything you can think of that may be helpful. Then you will be given a diary and you will write anything else you can think of in their as soon as you think of it. You will tell the Tau'ri because I can't trust any of the Colonials to be impartial. All the time, you will be watched and monitored and after a month I will asses the reports from everyone around you and decide based on that if you are to have a chance." Adama frowned at the look of awe, hope and fear that the Boomer unit tried to hide, but stifled his own thoughts, least they give some clue to the creature behind the heavy metal bars, "I will admit, a part of me wants to just welcome you with open arms but more of me knows how foolish that would be, therefore you must earn you chance, understood?"
He kept his face expressionless as Boomer frak it, model 209 nodded, slight tears trickling down her face as she nodded. It wasn't until Roslin's voice stopped him cold that he even realised he had left the SGC's cells behind and was now in the corridors.
"I never had you pegged for a romantic"
Turning, he gazed at Roslins bemused, but hard face with a frown, "I thought you were still on Ravenbright for that conference?"
"I
came as soon as I heard, I've been watching in the security room down
the corridor" the bemused part of the look vanished, and Roslins face
became all hard as she continued in deceptively soft tones, "I don't
like the idea of making deals with Cylons, and I don't like you
offering asylum like that, even if it is on terms, that is a government
decision to make not military.
However
I will have it honoured, with one change. You alone don't get to decide if Boomer gets her chance, clear?"
Adama nodded, he was well aware what Roslin could get like when she was in one of these moods, he had seen it before, the last time they had captured a cylon and during the hunt for Starbuck. Frankly, he was surprised she was agreeing at all.
"Frankly, I don't believe it and I know she will most likely never be safe on Freedoms surface but if she proves herself to both our satisfactions, then she gets her chance, If not, then there is a nice little research project into freeing the humanoid models that could use a guinea pig, clear? The only reason I am allowing it at all is that you appear to be controlling your personal feelings on the matter far better then I am, or would"
Adama nodded; on this they had an understanding. But then, that was always their problem, just finding the middle ground. In many ways, they were far too alike, both too stubborn, too bull headed and with an unfortunate tendency to think they should be in charge of everything. Still, now he had to talk to General Carter and make arrangements, he hated just dumping a problem in somebody else's lap like this. Boomer 209 was a Colonial problem, not the Tau'ris but they would be more impartial therefore he had to make it there's.
---
Helo was having a far worse time of it.
Not only was he suffering the effects of heavy Sarcophagus withdrawal without any friends at his side, but he was also trying to get the Boomer situation straightened out in his head. Unfortunately, the withdrawal was painful, distracting and made it very difficult to concentrate and quite frankly neither situation was one he wanted to deal with right now.
Nor did he want to deal with the annoying techie, Mr Doctor but not of medicine Jackson who insisted he knew what it was like and was there to help him.
Like hell, this was hell and nobody could ever have gone through it as bad as this. Arrrr, frak it! He needed to think and this need, this annoying painful want wasn't helping at all.
At least Jackson had stopped the rivulets of sweat running into his eyes, the salt had been stinging, annoying, another curse in the list of reasons why, right now, he truly wished he was dead because whatever the hereafter was truly like, it had to be better then this. It certainly couldn't be worse.
Frak it, he needed to sort Boomer out in his mind. Did he love her? Hell yes! But frak it all to the frakkiest hell, she was a cylon, there were many of her out there, he didn't even know if this cylon was the same Boomer he had been with most of the time he was on caprica's surface, they could have swapped at any time and he wouldn't have noticed any difference.
Hell, he already had a pretty good idea she wasn't the Boomer he knew on Galactica but still, she was a Cylon, could she love him back or was this a mind-frak of some sort?
And frak it all, would this need ever go away?
Jackson just kept quiet, staying at Helo's side the entire time.