A/N: Thanks for the great reviews. For those wondering about the origins of Mr. Kelan and how he came to call Galactica home, check out the first story, "Kobol's Destiny".

Chapter 2

Kara Thrace was thoroughly enjoying herself at the moment and she had yet to do anything. Having already been denied a chance to kill the Cylon Sharon on Caprica – damn Helo for getting it pregnant – she now had the ultimate excuse to effectively torture one of them.

"So tell me," she said finally, "why did you shoot Commander Adama?"

"How many times do I have to tell everyone, I don't know why I shot him," was the response.

"You're lying; you know that, don't you?" Kara told her. "You've been lying all along. You lied to me, you lied to Lee, you lied to Colonel Tigh and you even lied to the Commander. Now I'm asking you again, why did you shoot Commander Adama?"

"I told you Kara, I…"

"Don't call me 'Kara', you hear me!" Kara screamed as she slapped Sharon across the face. "You can call me 'sir' and nothing more. You hear me? Huh?"

"Yes, sir," Sharon said meekly.

"Now, one last time, why did you shoot Commander Adama?"

"I don't know. I went to shake his hand and the gun was there. It just happened. And that's the honest truth."

Shaking her head, Kara motioned to the two guards. Taking Sharon by the arms, they lifted her out of her chair and placed her manacled hands on a hook suspended from the ceiling. Reaching under the table, Kara produced a whip.

"You know, I really don't want to do this, Sharon," Kara said, using her name for the first time, "But you really leave me no choice. Now if you'll just tell me why you shot Commander Adama, then I won't have to hurt you."

"I saw myself," Sharon croaked. "On the basestar. There were dozens of clones. They all looked like me."

"Go on," Kara said, putting the whip down for the moment.

"They must have done something. They must have sent a signal and activated something in me. I've suspected for some time now that I was a Cylon, but I didn't want to believe it. I just wanted to end my frakking life and not have to worry anymore.

She began crying.

"I didn't want to shoot the Commander. I love the Commander. I love all of you. You've all been my friends for years and I tried to kill myself to spare you the pain of knowing what I truly am. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't pull the frakking trigger and now the Commander is hurt and everyone hates me. Oh, Gods, Kara, just shoot me now. Don't torture me. I can't tell you what I don't know. I just want to pay the price for what I did. Just do it! Shoot me!"

"No," Kara managed. "I won't give the Cylons that gift. Here I was so frakking angry at you, but I can't kill you. But I'm sure the Colonel can."

"What?" Sharon asked, shocked.

Kara went to the door and opened it, revealing Colonel Tigh. She shook her head and handed him the gun she'd been issued for the interrogation. Tigh nodded and motioned for her to leave.

"Under article seven, section four of the Articles of Colonization I do hereby convict you of attempted murder of a flag officer during wartime. The sentence is death to be carried out immediately," he intoned.

He pointed the gun to her head.

"Thank the Gods it's over," Sharon said as Tigh pulled the trigger.

In her cell, the other Sharon seized in pain as she was flooded with the conscience of her other self.

"Oh my God," she whispered.

Mark Kelan was angry as he stalked through the corridors of the Galactica. Several crewmembers gave him concerned looks, but he paid them no attention. He'd already been lied to by several people today. He'd already had Baltar renege on his promise not to tell anyone he was from Earth. And then all this nonsense about the Greeks being from another planet. It was enough to make a man scream.

Bursting into the crew workout room he finally saw his target: a punching bag. At the other punching bag, Cally was practicing kicking.

"You know, you might want to leave," he told her. "I'm so ticked off right now I could scream and I really wouldn't want to cause you to go deaf."

"Hey, I work around loud Vipers all day," she told him. "I'm sure I can withstand a few screams."

"If you say so," he said and laid into the bag like a madman laying into a helpless victim.

"That. Stupid. Son. Of. A. Bitch lied to me!" he yelled as he punched the bag. "I told him not to tell them I was from Earth and what does he do, he tells them I'm from Earth!"

"Who?" Cally asked.

"Your President or whatever he's called."

"Doctor Baltar?"

"Yes, him! You were there. I told him not to tell anyone else I was from Earth. Didn't I?"

"Yeah, I remember that," Cally said. "Maybe the Quorum heard it from rumors. They do tend to spread fast amongst the Fleet."

"Even so," Kelan said, continuing to punch the bag. "This Quorum of yours, they started with these lies about Earth being a colony and how the Greeks are from Kobol."

"The Hellasians?" Cally asked.

"You've heard these lies too?" he asked incredulously. "Madness. Utter madness."

He screamed and ripped of his shirt.

"Do I look Greek to you?" he asked.

"I don't know what a Hella… I mean a Greek looks like," she told him, trying not to stare.

"Well, I'm not one of them. I look more like you," he said. "Well, you know what I mean. What colony are you from anyway?"

"I'm from Caprica. The majority of the crew is from Caprica."

"I see," he said, calming down. "A great puzzle has been set before me. I've got to figure this out before I go mad. I hate riddles that have no immediate answer."

"Really," Cally said, clearly distracted now.

Looking down, Kelan realized he'd inadvertently ripped his shirt off.

"Oh," he said. "Sometimes I do that and don't realize it. I should have taken those anger management classes long ago. I'm so sorry."

"It's ok," Cally said. "Not like I've never seen a shirtless man before."

"Well, um, I think I'll go put on a new shirt now," he said, moving for the door. "Um, I guess I'll, um, see you, um, later, I guess."

"Sure," Cally said as he retreated from the room.

"Oh, God, what was I thinking?" Kelan said to himself as he walked down the corridor. "At least she didn't slap me."

Not watching where he was going, he soon realized he was lost. Looking up, he was greeted by Doctor Cottle.

"Can I help you?" he asked. "You're the guy from Earth aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess that secret's out now. Um, well, my hand hurts," he told him, holding up his slowly swelling hand.

"Gods, one on every ship," Cottle murmured. "Just sit down over there and I'll look at it."

"Oh, Captain Adama," Kelan said as he took a seat on the bed next to him. "What brings you down here?"

"My father," Lee told him.

"Oh, what happened?" Kelan asked.

"He was shot by a Cylon. He's alive, just comatose."

"And to think no one told me. God, I hate being out of the loop. I wish someone would tell me what's going on around here. It's been what, a week now?"

"Seven days," Lee told him.

"Yeah, a week. Oh, wait, you're week is different from my week."

"That would be nine days. If you'd like, I could have someone fill you in on everything about us."

"I'd appreciate that, Captain Adama," Kelan told him.

"Please, call me Lee."

"Alright," Kelan said, offering his hand. Lee shook it.

"Ow, that really does hurt," Kelan winced. "Guess I punched the bag too hard."

"Keep your shirt on, I'm coming," Cottle complained. "Frakking civvies. Always complaining about every little bump and bruise."

"I like this guy," Kelan whispered to Lee. "He reminds me of a guy I once knew on Earth. Always had a good line for any situation."

"Yeah, and I bet he had good hearing too," Cottle said. "Now let me see your hand."

Cloud Nine Luxury Liner

"This isn't frakking possible," Baltar said. "I saw you die."

"How many times do I have to tell you Gaius that I can't die. My conscience is always transferred to another body," Six told him. "And I always remember how I died."

"But Cally saw you."

"She's nothing but a child. Who'll believe her?"

Baltar tried to ignore her. He'd gone an entire week without having her constantly yammering in his ear and was grateful for the silence.

"Gaius, you're not listening to me," Six said, her voice turning deadly cold.

"I know your secret now," Baltar told her. "You're here, but I don't have to listen to you."

"Really?" she said.

She reached out and grabbed him by the throat.

"I'll scream," he protested. "My guards will be in here in no time at all."

"Only to find you alone, Gaius. To think you've lost your mind."

"No, there has to be an explanation."

She released her grip from him.

"I'm not here to kill you, Gaius," she said, calming down somewhat. "Do you understand the concept of 'revenge'?"

"Revenge? What are you talking about?"

She turned and smiled at him. Not the old smile he had grown accustomed to, but a smile of utter madness.

"Revenge against your little trollop Kara. She killed me twice, Gaius. She took you away from me. She hurt me, Gaius!"

"I…I…I'm sorry," Baltar stammered.

"That's not enough, Gaius. I want to see her bleed. I want to see her suffer. I want to see her die."

"My God, you've lost your mind."

"Have I, Gaius? Or maybe my undying love for you has elicited emotions completely unknown to Cylons."

"You're a machine for God's sake," Gaius pleaded. "You can't possibly understand such a complex emotion as revenge."

She slapped him, hard.

"Don't patronize me, Gaius. I will have my revenge. And I will take the remnant of humanity with me. Enjoy your time while you can, Gaius. When I'm through you'll be nothing but a memory."

With that, she vanished, leaving Baltar in a state of shock.