Chapter Two

Jessica opened her eyes very slowly and then shut them tightly as the glare of the overhead light sliced through to the back of her skull. She whimpered and tried to turn away from the pain of the whiteness but it followed her, surrounded her. She opened her eyes again. She was still there. Still on the gurney, under bright lights, with THEM. Poking, prodding, cutting into her to see. To know. To know her mind.

When the compound had been blasted, she'd hoped. Begged that somehow, finally, the enemy that had come to blow up the Cylon headquarters would rescue her. The man had come.....man, or Cylon? Jessica no longer could tell them apart in her befuddled mind. He'd injected her with something as the flames and smoke surrounded them and then left her there. To die? She owed him her thanks she supposed for trying to speed her release. But it hadn't worked. She'd woken up back in the same room where they had tied her down countless times. A wave of despair so sharp cut into her almost physically and she found herself curling up on her side in the all too familiar position of protection. There would be no salvation for her. She was dimly aware of a commotion of voices from some where close. Then it slowly occurred to her that she had turned over on the gurney.....She'd never been able to do that on it before. The restraints had prevented any movement at all. There were no restraints. She raised her arms to be sure. Then the voices got closer. There. In the room with her. She coughed violently, the action searing her raw throat.

"Easy. Take it easy." One of the voices said above her. Jessica raised her eyes. Same familiar lab coat but......no this one was a new doctor. She looked at the woman in confusion. Had the other one died? Oh, she forgot. Cylons didn't die. They expired. "Would you like some water?" The doctor asked in a soft soothing voice. Jessica turned in the direction of the woman's gaze to the man filling a plastic cup from a jug. Who were these people? She wanted to ask but could do no more than croak. He moved closer to help her drink that water and Jessica backed away and raised her arms frantically, sending the cup flying across the room. They had her trapped on both sides. The female doctor on one, the young man on the other. Trapped. She was always trapped. A burst of fury sent her forward clawing against the sheets and blankets to try and escape out the foot of the bed. If they were gonna kill her, she'd do her damndest to speed up the process.

"Grab her!" The doctor shouted. The man at her left wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her backwards. Jessica struggled violently, scratching, kicking.

"Stop it!" He yelled in her ear, bringing blinding pain through her head. "Frakking, stop it!" She pushed her feet against the bars of the bed and sent them both sprawling backwards his body breaking her fall. The man smacked his head against the floor but didn't release her although she did get an earful of cursing. Then something was surging up in her stomach. Up through her chest and throat. With a groan she lifted her head, fearing she'd choke if she stayed laying flat. She turned her head, and with a grunt of satisfaction vomited, a good quantity landing on the man beneath her. That finally made his grip on her ease.

"Ah shit." He groaned. She turned over on her hands and knees and retched until her stomach was empty and her throat was on fire. She sat back against the bed and stared up at the man in front of her, trying to wipe the mess off his uniform. She noticed two more people in the room. An older man and a young woman, roughly her age. The doctor came around to her side and Jessica flinched scrambling to get away from her.

"It's alright. You're alright. You're safe now." The doctor said kneeling in front of her. Jessica grabbed the plastic cup at her side and raised it threateningly. Not much of a weapon but it was all at her disposal at the moment. "Do you understand what I'm saying to you?" The doctor pressed. Jessica raised her eyes, scanning the people in the room. Nobody moved to grab at her. Jessica sniffled, then grimaced at the stench of vomit. She slowly nodded. She finally got a chance to scan the room more clearly. No, this wasn't the same room as the one they'd strap her down in before. Where was she? Who were these people? The younger woman moved closer and crouched down beside Jessica.

"That's a hell of a trick you pulled there. Coming back to life. I think you made Lee nearly shit himself." The young woman said raising her eyes to the younger man. "Gotta show me how to do that so I can do it to him sometime." Jessica studied the young woman. Short cropped blonde hair, big blue eyes and a friendly full lipped smile. "You're a mess, kid. Why don't you let Doc Salik here clean you up, okay?" She asked. Jessica looked warily up at the doctor.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise. Can you tell me your name?" The doctor asked.

Jessica hesitated. They didn't know who she was. Where was she? She opened her mouth to answer but it hurt too much to make any kind of sound so she grimaced and shook her head. Pointing to her throat she tried again, making nothing louder than a sort of wheeze. Her voice was gone. She dropped her head on her up drawn knees in frustration.

"It's alright. You don't have to talk right now. Lost your voice?" Dr Salik asked her. At this, Jessica nodded.

"Can you tell me if your throat hurts at all?" Vigorous nodding.

"Will you let me examine your throat?" Jessica stiffened. "I promise if I do anything that frightens you, you can just tell me to stop........Or well, you can stop me. Will you trust me?" The doctor asked. Jessica looked at her then turned to the young woman at her side.

"Salik's good people." She assured her. Slowly, Jessica nodded.

"Okay, good. Now, what do you say we clean you up first? Captain Apollo, if you and Lieutenant Thrace will excuse us?" Jessica looked up at the young man. There were a few lines of broken skin on his arms where she had scratched him. He looked down at her and took a hesitant step back as the young woman the doctor had called Lieutenant Thrace helped Jessica to her feet.

"Okay, now can you explain what the hell happened back there?" Commander Adama asked Dr Salik. The patient had easily dropped back to sleep after she'd been cleaned up and given some medicine for her throat. She'd examined the young woman and been stunned at what she'd found.

"Somebody injected her with XL47. Likely to save her life by doing so but it took effect too late. It's a drug that slows down all brain, coronary and respiratory functions so that they can't be detected by the monitors. Virtually simulating death."

"So she didn't actually die?" President Laura Rosilin asked.

"Not technically no."

"Frak, you could have fooled me." Lee said shaking his head.

"There's intensive scarring along the brain. As if they cut into her head. Repeatedly."

"Lords, why?" Lee asked with a shudder.

"To get information. They knew she was a seer. That's what the numbers and the star mean." Dr Salik replied.

"All the civilian prisoners we rescued had numbers." Commander Adama injected.

"Yes but it's the series of numbers. Seven, Five, One, Two. Basic numerology. Seven and five is twelve." All three looked at the doctor blankly. She sighed. The Adama's were hard fact technical men. How could she explain something as abstract as numerology? The belief that the numbers in one's names and birthday's were aligned with the stars and provided information on the character and destiny of a person. "Twelve is considered a perfect number. Spiritual perfection. She is more highly tuned to psychic impulses than other people."

"And so you think the Cylon's knew this and gave her those numbers and the star to single her out for some special purpose. To use her." Laura Rosilin said.

"I do. It would explain what they'd done to her."

"Which was what exactly, besides hack at her brain?" William Adama asked.

"Well in layman's terms the filter part of her brain has been damaged. The part that protects her in times of stress or panic. Pushing things to the back of her mind and dealing with them later isn't an option with her. She feels everything. And those feelings are amplified. Fear, rage, joy, passion, grief. And because of that she's able to tap in the emotions of those around her as well."

"You mean she can read minds?" Lee asked, not too sure he felt comfortable with that. Dr Salik nodded.

"That could be useful." William said.