Chapter 1
A/N: I neither now nor have I ever owned BSG or its related characters. And, thanks for all the good reviews. Hope you like the next chapter.
It was quite a shock, or so she thought. Yet she sat staring across the room at someone, or rather something that resembled her in every way, down to her name.
"Why?" she asked, after staring at her for what seemed like hours.
"Why what?" her opposite number asked.
"My name is Sharon Valerii. I was born on Troy," she freaked out.
"No, you're not Sharon. Neither am I. It was a name given to us by our creator, God," Sharon #2 told her.
"No, I don't believe it. It's just not possible. I remember so much. I remember my life, my family…"
"Those memories are real. God had to create them somehow. The twelve models were first created as children. They were seeded amongst the colonies and allowed to mature to adulthood. Once that happened, programming deep within them delivered those memories to God and he was able to create us. So yes, you remember your life and your family. Just as I do. And all of our numerous clones."
"But why?" Sharon #1 asked again.
"It is God's plan," was the answer.
The cell door opening caught their attention. Four armed Marines entered the cell, their guns leveled on both Sharons.
"You, the thing with the gunshot wound. Colonel wants to see you," the sergeant ordered.
"My name is Sharon…" she began.
"I don't give a frak what your name is," the sergeant snapped. "You shot the Old Man and now you're gonna pay, you Cylon bitch."
"I'm not a Cylon…" she insisted.
This only caused the Marine to get angrier and he took out his anger by slamming the butt of his rifle into Sharon #1's head, knocking her unconscious.
"Did you even feel that?" he asked the other Sharon.
"We don't feel the emotions or pain of our clones," she told him.
The Marine, not quite satisfied with the response, slammed the butt of his rifle into Sharon #2's head as well, knocking her unconscious.
"Get this thing to the Colonel. And make sure it's awake when it gets there," the sergeant ordered.
"Yes, sir," two others said and picked up the prone form of Sharon #1.
In another brig, Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace was doing pushups. She'd been at it for three days, stopping only to sleep and eat.
She couldn't believe her situation. She'd gone off on a mission, though unauthorized, that had given some hope to the Fleet, or at least she thought it had. And still she'd been thrown in the brig as soon as she landed.
Frakking Colonel, she thought to herself.
She still wondered why Commander Adama hadn't had her released already. She hadn't even been given the honor of one of his famous stare downs. That, she'd considered odd. She couldn't even get anything out of the guards assigned to watch her, "threat" to the Fleet that she was.
As she was finishing her latest set of pushups, Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama walked through the door. She hadn't seen him for three days, either, and was rather upset that he hadn't even done anything to get her out of this latest mess.
"Captain," she said, loading his rank with scorn.
"Lieutenant," he responded, a slight smirk on his face.
"Dammit, Lee, what the frak's going on," she practically exploded. "I've been down here for three days now and you're the first frakking soul I've seen."
"We've been trying to get organized," he admitted. "A lot happened while you were off exploring the ruins of Caprica."
"Well, why don't you tell me, then?"
"Well," Lee began taking a seat, "there's a guy from Earth aboard now."
"What?" she practically leapt at the bars. "How?"
"We don't know 'how' or even 'why'. According to our people on Kobol he just appeared out of nowhere," Lee explained.
"So we can get to Earth now?"
"Well, not yet. He hasn't been able to tell us the location. He says he was in some sort of stasis for two hundred years."
"Great," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "So what does Commander Adama have to say about this?"
"Well…" Lee began and trailed off.
"Well what? What's wrong, Lee?"
"Adama was shot," he came out and told her.
Kara collapsed on the cot in her cell.
"How?" she managed.
"Boom…Sharon did it," he told her.
"That frakking bitch!" Kara exploded. Then she laughed at herself, "Of course she'd be the one to do it. Frakking Cylons."
"They're preparing to interrogate her now. Our Sharon anyway. At least the one that we've known."
"Oh, if I ever get out of here I'll rip her frakking eyes out," Kara seethed.
"You and everyone else onboard. Colonel Tigh's gonna interrogate her personally," Lee told her.
"Lee, you've got to get me out of here. You've got to convince Tigh to let me interrogate her. I've dealt with these things. I can deal with her."
"I'm not sure if he'll go for that, Kara," Lee told her. "You frakked up pretty good by going off like you did."
"Well you tell me, then, what I should do?"
"I'll see what I can do," he told her. "But I can't promise anything. I'm not exactly in Tigh's good graces at the moment."
"Just do what you can. I want to see that bitch squirm."
"Alright," Lee said and left.
"She wants to do what?" Tigh growled later.
"She wants to interrogate Sha… that thing that shot my father," Lee told him.
"Not a chance," Tigh said, shaking his head. "She brought another one of those things back from Caprica. How do we know she's not one of them herself?"
"Colonel, she was pretty upset when I told her Adama had been shot," Lee protested.
"Yeah, and that could have been a programmed response," Tigh pointed out. "She was probably the first choice to shoot the Old Man and when she went gallivanting off to Caprica, the job fell to Sharon."
"Colonel…" Lee began.
"The matter is settled, Captain, unless you want to join Lt. Thrace in the brig."
"Colonel, the matter is not settled," Lee told him, staring Tigh in the eye. "She's the best we have when it comes to interrogating Cylons and if anyone should be interrogating that thing in the brig, then it should be her. Look, I'll personally vouch for her if that's what you want. If she fraks up then you can throw me in the brig right beside her and throw away the key."
Tigh considered this for a moment. He wasn't too happy with the decision he came to.
"Alright," he relented. "But if she fraks up then you'll spend so much of the rest of your life in the brig that no one will even remember you. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Lee saluted and left.
Colonial One
"A man from Earth?" Laura Roslin asked.
"Yes, Madam President," Billy Keikeya, her press secretary, told her. "The reports are saying Vice President Baltar is going to present him to the Quorum within the hour."
"Really?" Roslin asked a slight smile on her face. "That should be interesting."
"That it should," Billy said.
Roslin sighed. She really wanted to meet this man from Earth. It was mostly to see if he was the same as her visions (though Doctor Cottle would call them hallucinations). She was so isolated. It had only been a week since she'd been remanded to her ship, cut off from all but her senior staff. That much she had insisted on and, thankfully, Colonel Tigh had agreed.
"Billy, I would like you to relay a message to Vice President Baltar, unofficially of course."
"Yes, Madam President. Unofficially," he repeated the word nervously.
"Billy, it's alright. You're not doing anything wrong. We have to maintain some semblance of order. Vice President Baltar is only acting President. He knows that eventually this will all be cleared up."
"I understand," Billy assured her.
"Alright. Now this is what I'd like you to tell the Vice President," she said and began writing down her message.
Number Six made her way stealthily through the corridors of the Galactica, eagerly seeking her target. In the days after the "shutdown" her link to the chip within Baltar's head had been all but severed.
Perhaps he found it, she thought to herself.
Shrugging the thought aside she listened to the various conversations taking place around her, trying to figure out what was going on. From the voices of the humans, something bad had happened in during the time she was absent. However, the humans weren't very forthcoming with their information.
She noticed the one known as Cally talking excitedly to another crewmember. She had always found this human to be so enjoyable. Despite all the trials she had been through since the Colonies had been attacked she remained so positive, so aloof.
Something in the conversation made her listen closer.
"And he's going to present him to the Quorum," she was saying. "Oh Gods, I wish they'd broadcast it on the wireless. There's just something about him that's so, I don't know, different. He's not like most men. No offense of course."
"Ah, c'mon, Cally, all you've been talking about is this guy from Earth. Until he shows us the way, he's not much use to me."
A man from Earth? But how can this be true? Six though to herself. God said the humans must find Earth, but He never said someone from Earth would find them.
Something deep within her mind was tugging at her thoughts suddenly. Something she had never felt before. Not fear, nor anger.
It was hope.
Later, on the Cloud Nine luxury liner, Baltar sat staring at Roslin's "unofficial" message to him.
"She can't be serious," he said, looking up at Billy. "She wants to meet with him? And how does she expect to do that?"
"She says that if anyone would know how, then you're the one," Billy told him.
"She can't be serious," he said again.
"Serious about what?" Mark Kelan asked as he stepped out from behind a door. "God, I can't believe you're making me wear this."
"Oh, nothing," Baltar told him. "And you have to wear the suit because it's required. I'm sure Earth's government doesn't allow you to show up in what you've been wearing."
"Point taken," Kelan said. "And about Earth, there is no…"
"Acting President, Mr. Kelan, they're ready for you," an aide said before Kelan could finish.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, Billy, but we have more important matters to think about. Tell the President that I'll see about her, um, request as soon as we're through here."
"Understood," Billy told him.
"Now, Mr. Kelan," Baltar said, turning to face him, "time to present you to the Quorum."
"I can hardly contain my excitement," Kelan deadpanned.
"You're the chipper one," Baltar noted.
"Look, I hate speeches and presentations. I had to give too many of them to my president back on Earth. Always having to explain to the idiot about what we were doing and how we were going to go about doing it. Always in one ear and out the other."
"Well, there's time for that later," Baltar interrupted. "The sooner we get this over with, the better."
Shaking his head, Kelan entered the Quorum hall. As Baltar followed he thought he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye, but as he turned, no one was there.
Odd, he thought.
Tom Zarek, representative of the Sagitarrons, did not want to be at this meeting. And yet he'd been forced out of a meeting with his constituents over some nonsense about a man from Earth. Not being a religious man, and therefore not believing in the nonsense of a planet called Earth, Zarek had tried to dismiss the aid sent to summon him, but when he was told the Acting President of the Colonies had ordered it, he'd had little choice but to attend. However, he did intend to voice his concerns over what he saw as the illegal imprisonment of the true, though un-elected, President of the Colonies and the appointment of a man who had ties to the military.
As he sat watching the "acting" President give a long winded speech, as was his nature, much to Zarek's chagrin, he noticed the new man standing next to him. Obviously this was Baltar's Earthman. He certainly didn't act like someone born and raised under the Colonial flag. He didn't even appear to have served the military service required of all Colonial citizens, the one thing Zarek opposed more than the consolidation of power into one government for all the Colonies.
It was obvious, though, that this man was bored out of his skull, which was an understatement considering Zarek was just as bored. It did appear, though, that Baltar was nearing the end of his speech.
"And now, Representatives of the Colonies, I'd like to present to you Mr. Mark Kelan of the planet Earth," Baltar finally said.
"Thank you, Mr. President," Kelan said as he took the podium. "I'm, um, not much for speeches as you're esteemed President here so this will most likely be short and I will take some questions if no one has any objections."
"I have an objection," Zarek said, rising from his seat. "If it would please the 'Acting' President, instead of presenting us the fantasies of madmen we should be more concerned with the illegal imprisonment of the true President of the Colonies. We have sat idle for over a week now and nothing has been done to address this situation."
"Excuse me," Kelan said. "You're saying I'm nothing but a fantasy?"
"Not you, Mr. Kelan," Zarek told him, "But the planet Earth."
"Well, I can assure you that Earth is no fantasy, um, Mr. Zarek. I should know I used to live there."
"So you say," Zarek retorted.
"So I know," Kelan said a slight edge to his voice. "You know, on Earth no one ever believed that life existed beyond our planet. Many people refused to believe in extra-terrestrial life. I, fortunately, wasn't one of those people. However, I am finding it hard to believe that another race of humans exists beyond the planet Earth."
"I don't understand," the representative of Gemenon said as she rose. "You do not know of the planet Kobol, the birthplace of humanity? You've never heard of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol?"
"Most of this has been explained to me since I got here, but I still can't believe any of it. To say that everyone and everything on my planet originated on another world is complete nonsense."
This drew gasps from many of those in attendance.
"There is evidence on my planet suggesting that humans arose from native primate species. I, of course, believe in this theory, but I also believe that God created the Earth and all humans."
"You speak of a 'god'," Zarek said. "You do not speak of the Gods."
"There was a time when people believed in more than one god. This belief has long since been supplanted by the belief in only one God," Kelan told him.
"How could this have happened?" the representative of Gemenon asked. "Did your people not sing the songs of the Gods? Did your people not act out the great plays written in their honor?"
"No, people stopped believing in more than one God about two thousand years ago. The only record we have of them are the Greek myths."
A murmur rose amongst the crowd.
"Mr. Kelan, you do realize the Greeks were the fabled Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol?" the Gemenon representative asked. "They preferred the name 'Hellasians' but the common name was Greeks."
"What?" Kelan asked, utterly shocked. "The Greek civilization is over three thousand years old. There's no way they came from another planet. You're wrong. This, this meeting is over."
As he stormed out, everyone looked at each other in what could only be described as a cross between shock and confusion.
"You know he's right, Gaius," a very familiar voice whispered in Baltar's ear, causing his face to go white.