Battlestar Galactica
"Awakenings"
A/N: The third of my stories setting up my AU season two. For those just joining in, I suggest reading "Kobol's Destiny" then "Culture Shock" so you'll be in the know. Anyway, enjoy.
Prologue
Battlestar Galactica – Orbit of Kobol
Mark Kelan, formerly of the planet Earth, stood staring at the woman sitting quietly in her cell. The appearances were unmistakable, yet he was not convinced the woman was his friend.
"The resemblance is remarkable," he commented to Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama. "But I've seen plenty of people who look like someone else."
"I dunno, Cally says the picture she saw was a perfect match for Boomer, I mean Sharon," Lee told him.
"Still…You say you have another one of these in the morgue."
"An exact duplicate of this one," Lee said.
Kelan thought for a moment. This seemed an easy enough puzzle to solve, provided these humans possessed the right technology.
"Doctor Cottle, do you by chance happen to have access to an iris imaging device?"
"A what?" the doctor asked.
"I need a picture of her eyes, particularly her irises. I'll also need a picture of the eyes of the one in the morgue. If what I'm thinking proves true, then I may just figure out two problems on my mind."
"I'll see what I can do," Cottle told him and left shaking his head.
As Kelan and Lee walked down the hall, Kelan fully explained what he hoped to accomplish.
"It's a proven fact that no two irises are the same. Experiments on Earth even proved that the iris of an eye can't be altered in any way. So even if by some strange coincidence these Cylons of yours did indeed steal my friends away from me then I'll be able to tell if your Sharon is my Jennifer."
"And if they do prove one in the same, then you've just helped us as well. These new Cylons look so human that you can't really tell who's human and who's not," Lee told him.
"I've been wondering. Why do these Cylons hate you so much? I figured the two I saw on Kobol were merely programmed machines but from the way you talk, sounds like they have a grudge."
"That's a complicated story," Lee told him.
"I've heard worse," Kelan offered. "Besides, you've mentioned you need Earth's help. And, so you'll know, unless you have a good reason, not too many people on Earth will give you that help."
"I'm not sure if I'm the one to tell you," Lee said after a moment.
"Then who can?" Kelan asked.
"My father, if he ever wakes up."
"Alright, fair enough," Kelan said. "As soon as he's well I'll look forward to speaking with him, if he'll have me, that is."
"I'm sure he will. You're from Earth afterall."
Nodding, Kelan walked back towards his meager quarters. The computer was still processing all the information locked away in it, rather quickly to his dismay. That only meant that there was no hope of retrieving his friends.
Which made him truly the only Earthling in God only knew how many light-years.
In another part of the Galactica, Cylon Humanoid Model Number Six stalked around, watching her prey. She noted every door, every hatchway. She smiled inwardly to herself. When the time came, nothing would stand in her way and her revenge would be complete.
No one noticed her, of course. In essence, she was completely invisible to these humans. Something else that God had given her. She could, of course, appear to the man she loved, and disappear just as quickly. Thinking back, she realized she thoroughly enjoyed the mind games she had been playing with Gaius Baltar for several months now.
She watched now as her prey rounded a corner and ran into a new face. This was a man she had never seen before and yet he seemed instantly familiar. Deep within her mind she could feel routines screaming for attention. She shrugged these off. Other routines attempted to discern the reasoning behind these thoughts. Within the width of a nanosecond they reached the same conclusion: Does not compute.
Explain! she commanded her processing routines.
This man does not exist, was the quick answer. He is what the humans would call a 'figment of the imagination'.
Her mind began to spin. This man was clearly talking to her prey. He had to exist. He was obviously not interacting with her as she did with Gaius Baltar.
I can see him! she yelled inwardly.
He does not exist, was the quick answer yet again.
She felt like screaming. Yet she knew that doing so would reveal her to the rest of the crew. No amount of God's technology had yet been able to fully conceal her voice, hence her constant whispering to Baltar.
Move away, focus on other aspects of the mission, her higher routines urged. Do not focus on things that are not there.
It was too much, really. As the message repeated itself, she could feel her head throbbing. She had never experienced a headache before so the experience was overwhelming. Her mind told her one thing and yet her eyes told her another. The man was there and yet he was not.
She could feel her body shaking now. She could feel her world spinning.
Warning! Warning! her internal programming shouted. Increased heart rate detected. Systems becoming overwhelmed. Initiating emergency shutdown. Sending data stream to Number One. Recommend total shutdown of Number Six model until situation remedied.
With that, her world went dark yet again.
Colonel Tigh looked at the woman with a scowl on his face. The fact that she had been placed next to his still comatose friend didn't not help the situation.
"You're telling me she just appeared out of nowhere?" he growled. "How the frak is that possible."
"We're not sure, sir," the duty nurse told him. "Lieutenant Thrace says she was having a conversation with the man from Earth when she suddenly appeared."
"Gods, and what did the Earth man have to say? Another friend of his?"
She pulled back another curtain to reveal the sleeping form of Mark Kelan.
"Lieutenant Thrace says when he saw her he went white and fainted."
"Right. Hope no one else on Earth is that weak," Tigh said.
"Wouldn't you faint if you suddenly saw a ghost?" the nurse asked.
"Frak no," Tigh said, offering a rare chuckle. Then, turning serious again, "Tell me the moment he wakes up. And if that woman wakes up, you tell me too. And don't you dare remove those restraints. According to Thrace she's a Cylon."
"Yes, sir," the nurse said and resumed her duties.