Old Soul
Chapter 5
Friends Forever
Apollo wasn't one to take meds, required or not... He had a simple enough theory; he was allergic to a good many of the more useful meds, and finding out you are allergic to any others, by accident, could be fatal, so he tended avoiding taking anything. And the best way to avoid that was avoid doctors. Still, he had to get off of Salik's sick list and to do that he needed sleep. He laughed at the doctor when she gave him the sleeping pills after all this whole mess started out by him sleeping too long. However, he also knew he would not get any rest if he just attempted to sleep on his own. The dreams were back and no matter how coy he played it with Starbuck, he was scared. It is not an easy feeling, the sensation that happens just moments before you die, or feeling when your body begins to shake so hard that you're certain it will begin to rip apart, only to awake and find you have slept the night away, but feel as if you have not slept in months. Even he knew he could not continue this way much longer. So he took the drug and hoped it would allow him enough rest to make it through tomorrow's exam.
He swallowed the pill and the water, set the bottle of medication back into his top drawer and then lay down on the bed. He threw the blanket over him and rolled over on to his side. If he were at home, he thought, this would be the moment his mother would come in and kiss him, almost delicately, on the forehead and say a prayer over him. She had done that just 3 months earlier when he visited her and Eddy, her husband to be. "You are my boys," she would say, "and I don't care how old you get, you will always be my little boys. Always remember I love you" She would then walk around to Zak's bunk. The thought of still having to share a room with him, even after they became adults, was just too funny at some times and too hard at others. Anyway, his mom would pick up Zak's old, battered pillow and quietly straighten the covers out over it. He wondered if she was, in her own way, still doing it. The idea alone seem to bring a needed comfort to him and for the first time in a while he felt himself fall into a restful, almost peaceful, sleep
Michael sunk quietly to his bunk. He could not believe what he had seen. When he had handed Apollo his circlet, the jewel had begun to glow. Suddenly it made sense, at least to him, but how was he going to convince anyone else? Captain Lee Adama was an Old Soul and somehow he has opened a portal to another time. More importantly is that it was still opened, which meant he didn't know he had done it. If he was traveling unaware and the portal closed with him on the other side, he would be unable to reopen the portal and more than likely die. The first thing he needed to do was find out what was on the other side of the portal. He removed the circlet once again and concentrated on finding the soul of Captain Adama. It was not hard. It appeared that the captain took his meds and was crashed out on his bed. There was a bright aura around him, one that most souls possessed. He knew by the brightness, though, that he had been right. Lee Adama was indeed an Old Soul.
The theological beliefs of souls go back as far as written history. The Scrolls of Kobol told of two basic types of souls. The Innocent, or New Soul, that had no past life, and the more common, Old Soul. Of the Old Souls, there were three sub-types; the most common was called a Sleeper, a soul that was never aware of its past lives. The second was a Watcher, who could envision past lives, but to the mind this vision is no more than a dream, like watching a movie on a monitor or fish in a glass bowl; they can see their story unfold but do not feel anything more than that of an exciting movie or a bad dream. Lastly there were the Travelers, the rarest of Old Souls. They travel though the portals of time and space in an expanse so real that you can feel the winds that softly blow against a golden meadow and smell the blossoms of the flowers. Once you cross over, you lose yourself to the world you have entered, your past life takes control, and your soul forgets itself. If not for the tether that holds one's soul to its own mortality, a soul can get lost and wonder aimlessly, despite the desire of becoming whole again. In most cases, a body is only capable of holding on to one soul for any length of time and the joining of a second soul can cause confusion, unconscious pain, seizures and sometimes insanity for the occupied body. It is a rare case. Even more rare are souls that have joined with its past mortal soul and lived to tell about it. It is said that the Lords of Kobol were so blessed, but not everyone who had experienced the intertwining of souls were "gods." Far from it. In most cases, the soul would find itself trapped, and when the body of the past died, the soul's tethered body would die as well because its mortal body thought it was experiencing all the sensations that the past life body experienced.
Michael had experienced traveling many times. It was, for him, a vacation of the pain of this world, but never had he tried to join to his past life soul. As odd as it sounded, there were too many other memories locked up inside him to allow him to forget himself. He had never told anyone of this gift, it had been his secret, and before the destruction of the Colonies he had spent a lot of time exploring his past, and even the past of some of those whose memories lay within him. He knew he could never tell anyone, he learned well from those other memories that dwelled within him. Had anyone from the Gemmon sect discovered this gift, he would have been locked away forever, enshrouded in jeweled robes, considered more than a priest, and then upon his death, proclaimed a god. He was no god; he wasn't even a good priest. He was just a gifted student and very soon now it would cost him his life.
He easily found the open portal that encircled Lee's spirit. Michael's mind pushed through the captain and into the portal to what was shockingly, a very familiar site. 'Dear, God,' he thought to himself as he watched a man who looked very much like the captain sleep. His hair was long and the color was different, but it was very much the captain, asleep in a swinging cot of some kind. And more interesting to Michael was the man who slept next to Adama's look alike. It was a man he was very familiar with. A face he knew well, for it was, indeed, his own.
"Michael?"
The ensign's spirit jumped at the sound of his name and turned to face the haggard spirit of Captain Adama.
"Sir, you should be asleep," he whispered, looking back at the soul whose boyish features seemed to sparkle in the mist that enveloped the outskirts of the portal. The young Adama looked down at his sleeping body and then back at Michael.
"It would appear I am asleep and this is but a dream."
"Yes, I suppose it does appear that way."
"Michael, what is happening to me?" he asked, then pointed to the portal. "And who are they? What is this and why does it pull at me?"
"This is the cause of your nightmares, Captain," he answered. "That is the reality of a past life that we once shared."
"I...it calls...t...to me." Michael could see the weariness in Apollo's spirit. He assumed it was the medication that kept him from being able to cross though the portal. "B... but ..I am... am so tired."
"Then sleep, Captain," he whispered as he placed his hand gently on his forehead. The spirit seemed to fade into the mist as the mist, too, began to dissolve. "There is no need for any more dreams this day. I will watch over you, my friend." Then, as Apollo seemed to finally acquire a deeper, more peaceful sleep, Michael turned and stared back into the still opened portal of memories. Memories of a life long past and yet might just be the key to the Colonies' future. Lee Adama's future.
He watched as the body of a friend long since dead to him stirred in its tormented sleep, and if by instinct, he reached out and whispered, "It's alright, Archie. It's Okay. I am here." The young sailor quieted as Michael, too, began to fade.
Michael awoke with a start; he looked at the chronometer, and then quickly placed the circlet back on his head. His brain was pounding, as if it was trying desperately to get out. What had just happened had never happened to him before. Somehow he had managed to stay without his circlet for most of the night but it was costing him dearly. He closed his eyes and prayed to the Lords to watch over the captain while he slept. This would be a new day. He knew he had to go talk to the Commander but right now he did not have the energy to walk to the door. With the edge of unconsciousness quickly closing in on him, he knew that this conversation would have to wait. This was fine by him because he didn't have a clue as to how to even approach the subject. Finally, laying his head gently back on his own pillow, he gave in to the darkness.
Apollo wasn't one to take meds, required or not... He had a simple enough theory; he was allergic to a good many of the more useful meds, and finding out you are allergic to any others, by accident, could be fatal, so he tended avoiding taking anything. And the best way to avoid that was avoid doctors. Still, he had to get off of Salik's sick list and to do that he needed sleep. He laughed at the doctor when she gave him the sleeping pills after all this whole mess started out by him sleeping too long. However, he also knew he would not get any rest if he just attempted to sleep on his own. The dreams were back and no matter how coy he played it with Starbuck, he was scared. It is not an easy feeling, the sensation that happens just moments before you die, or feeling when your body begins to shake so hard that you're certain it will begin to rip apart, only to awake and find you have slept the night away, but feel as if you have not slept in months. Even he knew he could not continue this way much longer. So he took the drug and hoped it would allow him enough rest to make it through tomorrow's exam.
He swallowed the pill and the water, set the bottle of medication back into his top drawer and then lay down on the bed. He threw the blanket over him and rolled over on to his side. If he were at home, he thought, this would be the moment his mother would come in and kiss him, almost delicately, on the forehead and say a prayer over him. She had done that just 3 months earlier when he visited her and Eddy, her husband to be. "You are my boys," she would say, "and I don't care how old you get, you will always be my little boys. Always remember I love you" She would then walk around to Zak's bunk. The thought of still having to share a room with him, even after they became adults, was just too funny at some times and too hard at others. Anyway, his mom would pick up Zak's old, battered pillow and quietly straighten the covers out over it. He wondered if she was, in her own way, still doing it. The idea alone seem to bring a needed comfort to him and for the first time in a while he felt himself fall into a restful, almost peaceful, sleep
Michael sunk quietly to his bunk. He could not believe what he had seen. When he had handed Apollo his circlet, the jewel had begun to glow. Suddenly it made sense, at least to him, but how was he going to convince anyone else? Captain Lee Adama was an Old Soul and somehow he has opened a portal to another time. More importantly is that it was still opened, which meant he didn't know he had done it. If he was traveling unaware and the portal closed with him on the other side, he would be unable to reopen the portal and more than likely die. The first thing he needed to do was find out what was on the other side of the portal. He removed the circlet once again and concentrated on finding the soul of Captain Adama. It was not hard. It appeared that the captain took his meds and was crashed out on his bed. There was a bright aura around him, one that most souls possessed. He knew by the brightness, though, that he had been right. Lee Adama was indeed an Old Soul.
The theological beliefs of souls go back as far as written history. The Scrolls of Kobol told of two basic types of souls. The Innocent, or New Soul, that had no past life, and the more common, Old Soul. Of the Old Souls, there were three sub-types; the most common was called a Sleeper, a soul that was never aware of its past lives. The second was a Watcher, who could envision past lives, but to the mind this vision is no more than a dream, like watching a movie on a monitor or fish in a glass bowl; they can see their story unfold but do not feel anything more than that of an exciting movie or a bad dream. Lastly there were the Travelers, the rarest of Old Souls. They travel though the portals of time and space in an expanse so real that you can feel the winds that softly blow against a golden meadow and smell the blossoms of the flowers. Once you cross over, you lose yourself to the world you have entered, your past life takes control, and your soul forgets itself. If not for the tether that holds one's soul to its own mortality, a soul can get lost and wonder aimlessly, despite the desire of becoming whole again. In most cases, a body is only capable of holding on to one soul for any length of time and the joining of a second soul can cause confusion, unconscious pain, seizures and sometimes insanity for the occupied body. It is a rare case. Even more rare are souls that have joined with its past mortal soul and lived to tell about it. It is said that the Lords of Kobol were so blessed, but not everyone who had experienced the intertwining of souls were "gods." Far from it. In most cases, the soul would find itself trapped, and when the body of the past died, the soul's tethered body would die as well because its mortal body thought it was experiencing all the sensations that the past life body experienced.
Michael had experienced traveling many times. It was, for him, a vacation of the pain of this world, but never had he tried to join to his past life soul. As odd as it sounded, there were too many other memories locked up inside him to allow him to forget himself. He had never told anyone of this gift, it had been his secret, and before the destruction of the Colonies he had spent a lot of time exploring his past, and even the past of some of those whose memories lay within him. He knew he could never tell anyone, he learned well from those other memories that dwelled within him. Had anyone from the Gemmon sect discovered this gift, he would have been locked away forever, enshrouded in jeweled robes, considered more than a priest, and then upon his death, proclaimed a god. He was no god; he wasn't even a good priest. He was just a gifted student and very soon now it would cost him his life.
He easily found the open portal that encircled Lee's spirit. Michael's mind pushed through the captain and into the portal to what was shockingly, a very familiar site. 'Dear, God,' he thought to himself as he watched a man who looked very much like the captain sleep. His hair was long and the color was different, but it was very much the captain, asleep in a swinging cot of some kind. And more interesting to Michael was the man who slept next to Adama's look alike. It was a man he was very familiar with. A face he knew well, for it was, indeed, his own.
"Michael?"
The ensign's spirit jumped at the sound of his name and turned to face the haggard spirit of Captain Adama.
"Sir, you should be asleep," he whispered, looking back at the soul whose boyish features seemed to sparkle in the mist that enveloped the outskirts of the portal. The young Adama looked down at his sleeping body and then back at Michael.
"It would appear I am asleep and this is but a dream."
"Yes, I suppose it does appear that way."
"Michael, what is happening to me?" he asked, then pointed to the portal. "And who are they? What is this and why does it pull at me?"
"This is the cause of your nightmares, Captain," he answered. "That is the reality of a past life that we once shared."
"I...it calls...t...to me." Michael could see the weariness in Apollo's spirit. He assumed it was the medication that kept him from being able to cross though the portal. "B... but ..I am... am so tired."
"Then sleep, Captain," he whispered as he placed his hand gently on his forehead. The spirit seemed to fade into the mist as the mist, too, began to dissolve. "There is no need for any more dreams this day. I will watch over you, my friend." Then, as Apollo seemed to finally acquire a deeper, more peaceful sleep, Michael turned and stared back into the still opened portal of memories. Memories of a life long past and yet might just be the key to the Colonies' future. Lee Adama's future.
He watched as the body of a friend long since dead to him stirred in its tormented sleep, and if by instinct, he reached out and whispered, "It's alright, Archie. It's Okay. I am here." The young sailor quieted as Michael, too, began to fade.
Michael awoke with a start; he looked at the chronometer, and then quickly placed the circlet back on his head. His brain was pounding, as if it was trying desperately to get out. What had just happened had never happened to him before. Somehow he had managed to stay without his circlet for most of the night but it was costing him dearly. He closed his eyes and prayed to the Lords to watch over the captain while he slept. This would be a new day. He knew he had to go talk to the Commander but right now he did not have the energy to walk to the door. With the edge of unconsciousness quickly closing in on him, he knew that this conversation would have to wait. This was fine by him because he didn't have a clue as to how to even approach the subject. Finally, laying his head gently back on his own pillow, he gave in to the darkness.
