A/N: Well, having just seen "Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 2" I can say that most of what I have written is now truly AU. Only about half of what I thought would happen actually happened. But, it seems to have all been compressed so maybe my version of events is better.
No interrogation of the evil Sharon, yet. So stay tuned.
And, as always, I don't own anything associated with BSG. Well, except the Earthman. Other than that, it all belongs to NBC/Universal.
Chapter 2
Major Cottle, the Galactica's sole physician looked at Lee and Colonel Tigh with a combination of sympathy and irritation.
"There's two bullets as we suspected and both are lodged near his heart. He should be dead, but he was lucky. If one of them had gone even an inch to the left and a little further in, it would've hit his spine."
"So when do you plan to operate, doctor?" Tigh asked.
"Soon, hopefully. I'm rather short on supplies, Colonel. I barely have what we need to treat our other injuries. We were about to be decommissioned and…"
"I'm aware of that, doctor," Tigh said, cutting him off, "but we need him to survive. He's the only commander of a battlestar we have left in the Universe."
Cottle sighed, knowing he was about to be ordered to operate on Adama.
"It's not going to be easy, Colonel. I need a guarantee that we're not going to be engaging in battle anytime soon. And I'd recommend we not make any FTL jumps for the next couple of hours."
"You can't be serious, Major," Tigh said, using Cottle's rank for the first time. "There're Cylons out there wanting to kill us, not to mention we have men stranded on Kobol that need rescuing."
"I'm aware of that, Colonel, but we can't just stop what we're doing so you can execute a jump. We have to keep operating or else he'll die."
Tigh sighed and looked at Lee, who only nodded.
"Alright," he relented. "We'll execute a jump to Kobol and then we'll hide in the system. As to not engaging in a battle, I can't make any guarantees. The Cylons don't exactly care about whether or not a major operation is being performed."
"Fair enough. And Colonel, we'll do the best we can."
"I'm sure you will, doctor," Tigh said and left.
In the corridor, Lee walked silently alongside Tigh, both on their way back to the CIC.
"He'll be alright, Lee," Tigh said, breaking the silence. "Doctor Cottle's seen worse since we fled the Colonies."
"I'm sure he has," Lee told him, speaking for the first time since the shooting. "I just don't know what I'd do without him."
"Now don't say that, Lee. He'll be alright. Just trust me. Besides, I need you with a clear head right now. We've still got men down on Kobol who need rescuing."
"Understood," Lee said as they reached the CIC.
The CIC was still a buzz of activity, though someone had managed to find the time to clean up the mess where Adama had been shot. Despite the effort, both Tigh and Lee could see a faint stain where the man had fallen. Both did their best to ignore it.
"Lt. Gaeta," Tigh said, getting the Lieutenant's attention. "I need you to plot a jump to Kobol. We're going in to get our men."
"Aye, Sir," Gaeta responded and went to the plotting computers.
"Captain Adama, I need you to get a patrol ready. As soon as we jump in, I want you to launch in case any Raiders are left in the area. Once we determine the area's clear, we'll launch a Raptor to find any survivors."
"Aye, Sir. And, Colonel, what about Kara?"
"We'll worry about her once we sort this mess out here. As far as I'm concerned, she's finally crossed the line. If she's still alive, then she'd better have a damn good reason for going against orders."
"I understand," Lee said and left.
"Gods help us all," Tigh whispered to himself.
Caprica
Kara, Helo, and the wounded Sharon made their way through the streets of Delphi. Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, Kara had decided that they'd have to take Sharon with them, lest she fall into the hands of the Cylons.
What the frack am I thinking, she thought, she's a fracking Cylon to.
Helo held her close. He'd said he'd shot her, which made sense to Kara, but after he'd learned she was pregnant he'd done what few men would do and started taking care of her.
"We need to slow down," Helo said. "Sharon can't keep up like this."
"What d'you mean she can't keep up? She's a machine, Helo."
"She's wounded, Kara," Helo insisted.
"Look, I only agreed to bring her along because she's pregnant, which is still beyond me considering she's a fracking machine."
"I'm more than a machine," Sharon spoke for the first time. "I have both machine and organic parts. I'm more cyborg than machine."
"Cy what?"
"Cybernetic organism," Helo told her, remembering and old lesson on the evils of artificial intelligence and dependence on machines.
"Still a Cylon," Kara frowned. "C'mon, let's keep moving. If we can reach the spaceport maybe we can find a way off this fracked up planet."
Helo sighed as Kara moved forward. A sudden movement out of the corner of his eye made him stop again.
"Kara!" Helo exclaimed in a whisper.
Kara's head snapped around and saw them, about a dozen Cylon Centurions marching towards them. What she saw next infuriated her.
"No fracking way. Another one?"
"There're multiple copies, Kara. Just as there are of me. She's model number six. She's the stronger one."
"Great. Just what we need."
"Look, Kara, this is getting old. They've been after me like this since the attack."
"They're after me, that's why," Sharon spoke up. "I'm nothing but an experiment."
"We can talk about that later. Right now I'm getting us out of here," Kara said and disappeared into a nearby building.
"I guess we should follow," Helo told Sharon and went in as well.
Cylon Model Number Six was getting agitated. She'd experienced multiple re-awakenings in the past several hours and was still trying to process all the thoughts of her previous incarnations. Most of the energies from the Arrow of Apollo still coursed through her systems, since she'd only become activated after the other Sixes all went down. Now she led a phalanx of Centurions to look for the rebellious model number twelve.
So weak, she thought. God was so shortsighted to experiment on the humans this way.
A few of her other incarnations had been present at the camps set up to conduct the same experiments. They formed the Cylon basis for the emotions of love as well as the more powerful emotion: revenge. It was an emotion Six fully understood now. She wanted revenge against the blonde human. And the human known as Gaius Baltar.
She saw one of them duck into the building up ahead. It was the male human, the one who had impregnated the model number twelve assigned to this planet. A wry grin spread across her face. She would be able to complete both her tasks now.
She motioned for the Centurions to go into strike mode. Those in the front converted their right hands into weapons and moved ahead of her. The others fanned out. One advantage the newer models of Centurion had over the original model was that they learned and these Centurions had learned a lot from the human with number twelve over the past two months.
He will not get off of this planet, she thought to herself. And neither will the blonde.
"Leave her to me," she told the Centurions.
"By your command," they responded in their monotonous voices.
A gunshot sounded and the Centurion nearest the building erupted into a shower of sparks as the bullet struck its head. Six swore to herself and motioned for the remaining Centurions to take whatever cover they could find.
This isn't going to be easy, she thought.
Kobol
The three humans walked through the woods towards the lake where Cally had last seen Chief Tyrol and the rest of the team originally sent to investigate the planet. They were moving slowly only because Doctor Baltar and the man were carrying his space craft. He'd insisted on bringing it with him and Baltar had relented. Cally carried the globe they'd discovered on the pedestal. The man had said it looked like Earth, only a little different and suggested bringing it along in case it should reveal anymore secrets.
"This all looks so much like Earth," the man said. "Makes you wonder if what you said is true."
"Why else wouldn't it be true?" Baltar asked, agitated that this "Earthman" was still not believing the truth about humanity.
"Once I get my computers fully operational I'll show you why it's not true," the man told him.
"Not bloody likely that you have computers in there," Baltar said, indicating the ship they carried.
"If I didn't, then I wouldn't be here," he told him.
"Could we discuss this later," Cally said, glaring at the both of them. "We have to find the Chief and the others."
"Agreed," the man said. "Dr. Baltar?"
"Oh, I guess," Baltar responded.
They continued to walk, Cally leading the way. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.
"Oh Gods, Cylons!" she shrieked.
Baltar dropped the ship and ran to hide. The man just stood there looking all confused and agitated at the same time. The two Centurions spotted the man and ran towards his location. The man stared them down and then made his move.
"Great, I just hope Shelly packed all the weapons," he said and began punching keys on his computer.
"What, you mean you've got weapons in there?" Baltar called from his hiding spot. "No wonder it's so fracking heavy."
"Just watch and learn my good Doctor. Watch and learn."
The gun looking apparatus had reappeared, but, to Baltar's horror, wasn't pointing at the Cylons. The light from before reappeared and he watched as two shapes took form before him.
"What are those?" he asked.
"Weapons," the man said casually and pressed another button.
The two objects quickly transformed into flying objects and moved towards the approaching Centurions. The two Cylons changed their hands into guns and pointed them at the objects. Before they could fire, however, the two objects stopped suddenly and quickly produced weapons of their own. Baltar watched in awe as the two objects fired several missiles at the Centurions, both of which exploded into a shower of sparks. The man pressed another button and the flying machines returned and were reprocessed into his computers.
"How?" Baltar asked, emerging from his hiding spot.
"I'll explain later. I don't think it's such a good idea if we stay here. Where's Cally?"
"Here," she said, emerging from her own hiding place.
Nodding, the man picked up his side of the craft and Baltar, after a moments hesitation, did the same. Once more, the three humans made their way to the rest of the team on the planet.
Galactica
Major John Cottle, Chief Ship's Physician, wiped the sweat from his brow. It had been a difficult eight hours for the man and he really needed a cigarette. Upon exiting sick bay, however, he was met by Lee Adama.
"I thought you would be in the CIC," Dr. Cottle said.
"They didn't need me. After we jumped in system it was clear the Cylons had bugged out. Colonel Tigh ordered me to take a rest and so I came here."
"Well, you're just in time, Captain," Cottle said, reaching for his pack of cigarettes. Lighting one, the doctor took a long, joyful drag. Exhaling a cloud of smoke, he continued, "The operation was successful. We were able to remove the bullets and close up the wounds."
"So he'll…"
"Yes, he'll live." Seeing Lee brighten, Cottle quickly added, "He's not awake right yet, though. He lost a lot of blood, Captain. It's going to be a while before he wakes up."
"I see," Lee said, upset that he wouldn't be able to talk to his father right away.
"He's going to be fine, Lee," Cottle said, using Lee's name for the first time. "But you won't if you don't get some sleep. We've all been through a lot the past few hours. You should get some rest."
"Understood," Lee sighed.
The ships internal speakers buzzed. Both men looked up.
"Captain Adama, please report to the CIC. Captain Adama, report to the CIC," the speakers intoned.
"Guess I won't get to rest afterall," Lee said and left.
Walking into the CIC, Lee could see Colonel Tigh engrossed in aerial photos of Kobol. Looking up, Tigh motioned for Lee to come over.
"We think we've found them," Tigh said, indicating the photos. "They seem to have crashed near the ruins. And we're seeing indications of a recent battle of some sorts."
"What?" Lee asked, taking a look at the photos himself. "The crews didn't take any weapons along. Are you sure it's not the wreckage of Raptor 1?"
"No, the wreckage is here," Tigh responded, pointing at another part of the photo. "Whatever's going on down there, it doesn't look pretty. Options, Captain?"
"Land Marines, get a feel for the situation, scout out for survivors."
"Just what I had in mind," Tigh told him. "I want you to go along and provide air cover."
"Yes, Sir, that's a good idea," Lee said. Quietly to Tigh he said, "And, Colonel, I just came back from sick bay. My father came through the surgery. He's going to live."
"I knew he would," Tigh said. "He's a fighter. Always has been."
Lee nodded.
"I'll get ready to head down to Kobol," he said and left.
"Dee, have the Marines report to the launch bay. We're going in to get our men," Tigh ordered.
"Aye, Sir," Dee said and relayed the orders.
All around, the mood of the CIC rose. It was the first good thing all day.
