Chapter One
"This one's moving!" a frantic male whisper. Jessica Talbot fought against rising consciousness she knew would only bring her more pain.
"Kill her. We have to make sure they're all dead." another male voice, gruffer than the first. Yes, please just kill me. Kill me now so the pain can finally stop. Then she heard the gun cocking. Soon momma. I'll see you soon. She felt something brush against her bare thigh, and the warmth of a body kneeling next to hers.
"Lee, dammit, hurry up." the gruff voice ordered.
"Wait....." he said lifting her arm. Don't..... Don't touch me.... she wanted to scream but her voice had gone hoarse with unheeded screams. "Fraking shit...." she heard him gasp.
"Commander!" he called out. "Commander!" louder this time.
"What is it?"
"She's a civilian, Sir." he said.
"What?" the gruff voice asked in disbelief, then a second body knelt next to hers. She tried to pull her arm back but she doubted they even noticed. She no longer had the energy to even open her eyes much less pull away from them.
"Look. She's not a Cylon." he held up her arm, baring the numbers down her inner forearm and the tiny blue star.
"What's the star mean?" the one called Lee asked.
"I'm not sure. Let's get her back to the Galactica, maybe the Doc'll be able to tell." the gruff one said. "It could be a trick, but I'd rather not have another innocents death on my conscience. If she's really a Cylon and they thought to fool us. We'll finish the job there." Then Jessica was being lifted up and out of the room that had been her prison for the past two years. They weren't going to kill her. They'd see she wasn't one of the Cylons. She'd be free. As the man, not the gruff one- he was giving orders up ahead of them, carried her out Jessica buried her face in his chest and began to cry.
Kara Thrace took another long gulp of lukewarm water from the jug on the bed side table. The girl hadn't moved a muscle in three hours. Frak, who the hell sleeps that still? Kara always woke up with the blankets half off her bed but this one, geez. If it wasn't for the slight rise and fall of her chest Kara'd be sure they had her watching a corpse. Salik and both Adama men were on the other side of the glass having some sort of silent conversation that was making Lee's eyebrows crinkle in that way that meant he was having an intense moment. The elder Adama mirrored the physical gesture. The monitor next to the girl's bed began to beep quicker and louder than Kara thought they were supposed to be. Oh damn, frak, shit, damn! All she'd wanted was a peek at the apparent non-Cylon they'd rescued from the Cylon ship and she got caught and they'd stuck her with watching the human mannequin. What had started off as an exciting little peek had turned into a three hour boredom marathon that bordered on torture. And now she was beeping! Frakking beeping like crazy. Kara leapt out of her chair and was about to call for the doctor but the three of them had noticed the sound and come rushing in.
"What happened?" Dr Salik asked checking the patient's vital signs. She was shaking, trembling on the bed so violently that Salik had to hold her down. Then a loud piercing scream and an even worse sound. Flatline. "Oh no you don't!" the female doctor ordered the the now still again girl on the bed. "Frak! Commander, hand me that syringe." she ordered to the stunned man hovering and watching. "And Captain Apollo, the paddles if you please." Lee Adama, jerked into action while the doctor ripped open the girl's gown after injecting her arm with the clear liquid she hoped would start her heart again. Nothing.
Kara watched in a sort of horrified fascination. She'd seen people die before. Seen soldiers blown to pieces and seen them give up the ghost while lying on a gurney. And she started to do for this young woman what she'd done for them when there was time. She began to pray. Silent, her lips barely moving but her fingers clenched together. Until it hit her she wasn't sure what to pray for. Was the girl really gone? Would she be brought back? Should Kara pray for her departing soul or for a return to life. She'd never seen somebody flatline and come back, but Dr Salik had told her it happened sometimes. Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace liked living life defying the odds so she prayed the lords of Kobol would see fit to bring the girl back. She physically startled when Dr Salik began jolting the patient with the electrical pads. Once....twice....three times.....four times.....five times..... All with the flatline screaming in their ears. After the tenth time Dr Salik lowered her head and sagged her shoulders. With trembling fingers she turned off the monitor. And the silence was deafening.
"She's gone." Salik said, her voice trembling.
"Frak me." Kara whispered feeling like she was about to lose her lunch. Commander William Adama took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Lee dropped into the chair by the door.
"Lieutenant Thrace, please get someone to come fill out the....um....the paper work. Lieutenant" Dr Salik said a little more forcefully. Kara started and got to her feet.
"Will do, Doc." Kara said, her eyes focused on the dead body on the bed. "Be a pretty empty form though won't it?" Kara asked.
Lee felt sick at his friends' words. Kara was right though. They knew nothing about the girl. Not even her name. All they had were the numbers on her arm and that little blue star. A seer, Dr Salik had said. One of those who could forsee things, knew things before they happened. Had she known this was waiting for her? Lee thought dryly. Had she known she was gonna die? Lee felt a shudder go through him.
"Please note, the time of death. Ten-thirty pm." the doctor said, tonelessly.
"She'll be buried with civilan procudure." William Adama said. "As soon as possible."
"Of course. I'll prepare her once the paperwork is done." the doctor said, sniffling. "Excuse me." she said turning to leave the room. It never got easier for her, Lee noticed absently. Losing a patient. Frak, he could never be a doctor himself. No, you're better at killing them off than saving them aren't you? Lee thought to himself with a surge of self-disgust.
"I'll got tell President Rosilin that we've lost her. You can return to your duties, Captain." William said looking down at his son.
"Yes,Sir." Lee said but didn't move as his father left the room. It was all for nothing. Frakking,Frakking, Shit! He'd pulled her from the ruins of the Cylon compound for nothing. Hell, maybe he shouldn't have moved her at all. Maybe he should have left her on the ground and she would have.......what? Lee tried to reason, she would have been fair game for the returning Cylons. He blinked back the burning in his blue eyes that was threatening to turn into tears. He stood and walked over to the bed where she lay. Black hair against the white stark white pillow, curling about her neck and along her shoulders. A soft white face. What color were her eyes? He'd never know. She'd lost consciousness again after he'd carried her out towards the rescue plane. Her sobs had been hoarse and barely audible but he'd felt her wracking body against him. What had she endured? For how long? He'd tried to save her. He'd tried and once again failed. No. He wasn't anybody's hero. Put him in a plane blasting the shit out of the enemy and he was in his element. But sometimes he tried. Tried to be better, tried to be human and let himself feel and make the world better by more than just sitting in a Viper and fighting and inevitably he failed. And the pain of that hurt too much and it was enough to make him vow to never do it again. But then he'd forget and try again. And this girl was dead. Because he tried to play hero.
"I'm sorry." he said, the words dead and meaningless. What the frak did she need with his apology? She was gone.
A soft moan jolted him louder than any explosion ever had. Lee stared down at the still female form. No, he'd just imagined it. Frak, too many late nights shuffling paper work or out in his viper. Then she turned her head, a fraction of an inch but it was enough to cause Lee's jaw to drop and his heart to start racing. He took a step back from the bed. What the frak was happening? A ghost? Right. It was only a split second after the girl opened her eyes that Lee was screaming for the doctor but it was enough for him to see. Her eyes are green.
