Between Life and Death

Chapter Eight

Tigh moved across the bridge as he continued to monitor the draedus console. This system's sun was truly a beautiful sight but he knew from experience that some of the most beautiful things in life are also the most deadly. Almost as if drawn to this very thought, a solar flare was expelled from its heated mass and spewed towards the screen. Suddenly, the ship's power began to flux. Some of the smaller ships in the Galactica's shadow lost power completely and began to drift uncontrolled towards other ships. Tigh turned to Duella and requested her to call all ranking officers to report to the bridge as the ship was put on alert. Action Stations were set at Condition One.

Commander Adama quickstepped into the active bridge and made his way over to where Tigh was awaiting him. "Report," he whispered calmly, looking around him.

"A pulse of energy from the system's sun seems to have caused power outages throughout the fleet. We have at least three ships drifting aimlessly right now, unable to get their systems back up," he growled.

He noticed Adama looking around the bridge, but more importantly, he noticed that the CAG had not reported to his

station. "Have you seen Captain Adama?" Tigh asked as he noticed a strange look pass from the Commander to his Gemmon assistant, who immediately shot back out the hatch of the bridge.

"No," Adama admitted.

"Damn," Tigh grumbled. "He looked kind of pale and tired, but he assured me that he felt okay and was heading back to his quarters," he continued. "I knew I should have sent him to sickbay."

"Colonel, can you handle this situation? Get those ships up and prepare us for a new jump, preferably before the sun erupts again."

Tigh just nodded.

"Good. Call Life Station and have someone meet me at the CAG's quarters," Adama ordered.

With those words he was out of the room moving like a man possessed down the long corridors.

Good to his word, Lee had headed straight to his quarters after debriefing. Fact was, if he had had to salute one more person he would have gone nuts. He wanted, no, needed, to get out of the general population. He needed to get to bed. And he hated to admit it, but if this headache didn't end soon he would need to take himself off duty again and head for Sickbay. He could barely manipulate the corridors. His vision was beginning to swim before his eyes. He thought he heard two of the deck crew say something about him being drunk. He supposed it would look that way to others, as his steps were becoming more like staggers and the cool walls were probably the only things holding him upright.

Conversations were becoming unexplainably loud and hollow. It was as if others were speaking some alien tongue through a cardboard tube. He was in trouble. By the time he reached his room, Lee felt light headed; waves of nausea battered him like small boat in a gale. He staggered to his desk, knocking over most of the papers that lay across it.

"Damn," he mumbled, trying desperately to wipe the blur from in front of his eyes. It didn't help.

Suddenly the lights began to flicker on and off. The ship was being battered by a solar storm, its electromagnetic tendency wreaking havoc with the Galactica's power. He thought he heard the call to prepare to quarters, but he was not sure. He was just so tired. Suddenly he felt as if his world was being warped out of shape.

He felt as if his mind was being pulled out of his body. The blur became a familiar haze and the haze kept pulling him further away from his body. His ears began ringing with the clanging of metal against metal, and then he became stunned by a horrible pain in his chest. He took a couple steps to his bedroom door and fell heavily against it. Ghostlike figures began to appear within the haze. Some of the men looked familiar, others did not, but nothing seemed real. There was a fight but he couldn't move to help. The smell of salt water and smoke engulfed him just moments before everything went black.

Adama reached the office at the same time as Dr. Salik and two of her med techs. The door was open and they walked in to find Michael kneeling on the floor next to Lee's unconscious form. Lee was turned on his side and blood was spilling out of his mouth. Michael's circlet was off his head and lying in the Captain's open, lifeless hand. Adama stood frozen as the doctor and her medical staff pushed the young officer away and began working on the unconscious Captain in front of them.

The Commander quickly picked up the circlet after one of the med techs tossed it out of his way, and he handed it back to his assistant, who looked as frightened as he felt. Time seemed to move in slow motion and neither man seemed to have the capacity of speech as they watched the doctor work. No words were even spoken until after they watched the gurney with Apollo hurry from the room. Almost as if his tongue was finally released from some spell, Michael felt the words he was certain the Commander would not want to hear spill from his mouth.

"The Portal has shut, Commander. He is trapped on the other side," the ensign whispered, as if someone had sapped the last ounce of energy from his body. Michael went limp.

Doctor Salik had remained behind to ask the Commander a couple of questions. She had been about to interrupt their conversation when Michael collapsed into the Commander's arms.

"Dear Lords," she murmured as she rushed over to his side. "Damn, someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

As the ship's doctor, and as the Commander's personal doctor, Kayla Salik was privy to Michael's medical history, or more importantly, the history of the many Priests before him. Adama lifted the slight youth in his arms and motioned for Kayla to follow. "He had just told me that it is his time."

She looked skeptically at the Commander. "That is impossible; he just had a full exam not two weeks before the holocaust. There was nothing wrong with him."

The Commander continued down the corridor with the young officer in his arms. "Some things are just beyond our understanding."