Chapter 16
William Adama took the now empty seat across from the bars separating him from Jessica.
"You're not making this very easy for me." He said.
"So my job is gonna be to weed out Cylons, not traitors. Understood." Jessica said gritting her teeth and beginning to pace the small cell.
"You're job wasn't to shoot anyone." The commander pointed out.
"I was doing you a favor. Gaius Baltar frakked this whole fleet. Because of him, the Cylons were able to very nearly wipe us all off the planet. You're not the least bit ticked about that?" Jessica asked, incredulous
"If we were back home, Gaius Baltar would be tried and executed for his crime. Now, we have a very serious problem." William said taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes in fatigue. "We need him. As much as we need you. So as much as I would love to see Gaius Baltar pay for what he's done. The needs of the fleet need to take precedence. We need to weed out the Cylons. We cannot do that without him. I could lock him up in his lab for the next 60 years it'll take him to test all the blood samples. The idea holds an incredible appeal. Your punishment, since we can't keep you in this cell-" at that Jessica stopped pacing and turned to him hopefully. "Is that you'll have to work along side him."
"Eh?" Jessica asked with a grimace.
"That way, you both serve out your sentences doing something constructive and we don't lose our advantage over the Cylons."
"Frakking hell. Commander." Jessica groaned. She tried to think on the positive side. She'd be alive. "I'm not sure I can promise not to shoot him again." He fought a smile. Hard.
"You'll split your time between working for me and working for Doctor Baltar. You'll go no where without a guard. When I've decided you've served enough time, you'll be allowed to come and go as you please. Not before. Is that understood?" Commander Adama asked. Jessica nodded miserably.
"When can I get out of here? I feel like I'm running out of air." Jessica pressed closing her eyes and trying to take a deep breath but her lungs felt stifled.
Jessica and the commander were both jarred at the sound of loud alarm bells that shot Jessica's nerves through the roof with a scream. Commander Adama leapt up out of the chair.
"What's that noise?" Jessica asked covering her ears. Then someone came over the P.A system calling for Commander Adama and telling everybody to get to their stations. Cylons had been spotted. Jessica's eyes widened in horror. Shit.
"Wait, Commander!" Jessica pleaded as he rushed out the room. "Can I get out of here?" She asked hopelessly to the now empty room."Frak." Jessica dropped her head against the bars, her fear settling over her again with an icy chill.
It didn't help matters that in addition to her fear of being trapped in the cell, there were now Cylons floating around somewhere right above them. She tried to concentrate on something else...Anything else! But to no avail.
"Frakking hell!" Jessica kicked at the bars. "Excuse me out there! Anybody?" She hoped that at least the guards on the other side of the door would take pity on her and let her out. "Right, Talbot and the Cylons are just passing by to see how I'm doing." Jessica told herself sarcastically. "Hey out there! The commander said that I was allowed out of here!" Jessica cried out but there was not way she'd be heard over that infernal alarm system. "Well this is just lovely." Jessica said throwing her hands up in the air. It was about a half an hour later when she felt the air in the room begin to thin considerably and a heavy pressure settle over her. As if she were descending an elevator. But worse. Oh frak...So much worse. Jessica leaned against the bunk to ease her disorientation. "What the hell is happening?" Jessica asked. Her head felt as if it was going to explode in her skull and then her stomach lurched. Out came Kara's tuna sandwich. Mouth full of acid, Jessica lay herself flat on the bunk and waited for the pressure inside of her to ease. Gradually Jessica was able to unclench her eyes and her breathing returned to normal. Good lords, what the hell was that? It was over an hour before anybody showed up down in the brig again. The strange pressure had returned a second time and Jessica was hoping for it wouldn't return as she was worried about running out of places in the cell to throw up.
She gave Dr Salik a weak but grateful smile. "I got a little sick." She explained unnecessarily. "I think something's wrong. I've thrown up twice so far."
"It's the jumps. Some systems can't take it. I'll give you something to settle your stomach." The doctor replied. To her credit, Dr Salik ignored the sharp smell of vomit and passed her a glass of water and two small tablets. The guard had followed the doctor in and was now unlocking her cell. Jessica could have kissed the dour faced young man.
"The commander asked me to come down and see how you were doing and he told me to let you out. He wants you up with him in CIC where he can keep an eye on you."
"Whatever he wants is perfectly all right with me." Jessica said, her mood and stomach eased considerably. "What's CIC? And who's jumping in the ship and are the Cylon's gone now?" Jessica's questions followed Dr Salik down the hall.
The Cylon's were not gone; Jessica learned as they popped up repeatedly like clockwork every 33 minutes.
Jumping was the Galactica's most effective method form of escaping and involved pushing the entire fleet of ships at a faster than light speed where they would drop 'jump' out of sight and then re-appear at a designated spot. The speed of movement was what caused the severe compression of air and Jessica was glad to know she was not the only one affected by it. But thanks to Dr Salik's medication, she no longer had to worry about making a mess all over the CIC which she learned stood for Command Information Center. The command center for the Galactica.
Commander Adama assigned Jessica to the communications console to work with a young dark skinned woman with a bright friendly smile named Dualla. She watched Dualla's manner as the efficient young woman was tuned in to all the viper pilots currently on duty trying to fight off the Cylons. Small screens next to the radio's allowed for wide surveillance of the Galactica and it's surrounding area. Dualla relayed Commander's orders to the pilot's and sent back info from the pilots to the Galactica.
Hour after hour, the Cylon's came. Every half-hour When the first twenty-four hours past with no relief, Jessica began to worry that the reason the Cylon's hadn't blasted the Galactica to pieces was because she was on board. Then the panic began to settle in deep in her stomach. Waiting for one of them to mention it. One of them to suggest that it would be best to sacrifice her for the sake of the ship. Commander Adama locked eyes with her at one point and Jessica held her breath. But he simply passed over her to give Dualla another order. And Jessica nearly wept with relief. Then the guilt started at about hour 30 when the pilot casualties began to rise. And the worry. Both Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck were out battling the Cylons in their vipers and Jessica found herself a seething jangle of nerves until they both returned from one of their repeated four hour shifts. Her eyes would scan them through the screens for any physical damage and she was sure Dualla could hear her exhalations of relief when both and Kara and Lee checked out all right. Exhausted, shaken but otherwise all right.
On hour 48, Jessica's body was screaming for sleep but she quickly learned it was not even worth the bother. She'd rest her head on her arms at the console and as soon as she began to doze off that screaming alarm would go off and she was left worse off than if she hadn't tried to rest at all.
At hour 60, Commander Adama offered to let her lie in her room under guard but Jessica assured him she was better off staying where she was.
At hour 72 with no relief from the Cylons in sight, her body ignored her will and began snatching five, ten minute spurts of unconsciousness.
At hour 96, the stimulants were handed out. Commander Adama assigned Jessica to work the console alone for a short while when Dualla mistakenly called out all the ships that had returned for the turn around when it was discovered one of the ships she named hadn't actually returned. The Olympic Carrier. With over one thousand civilians on board. Gone. Through Jessica's sleep deprived brain she registered a small measure of sadness but her body was selfish in it's demands. It wanted sleep. Now. The commander was reluctant to give her stimulants since he wasn't sure how the drugs would affect her brain but Dr Salik assured him that the pills would do her no harm. So thankfully Jessica was now alert if slightly chatty as she manned the radio. When five more pilots were killed, Captain Apollo, having been pushed farther than Jessica feared he could physically stand finally lost the precarious grip he had on his self-control. He stormed into CIC and gave voice to what both Jessica, the commander and Colonel Tigh were all thinking.
"Well this frakking proves it doesn't it? She's a damn Cylon! That's how they keep finding us!" Lee exploded.
