SPOILER ALERT: The following chapter has spoilers for the second season of Battlestar Galactica

Thirteen

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Politics, Religion, and Her

Laura Roslin knew that Tom Zarek was having an affair with Ellen Tigh, as did most of the Colonials on Babylon 5. That being said, the common knowledge wasn't hurting Zarek in terms of popularity. If anything, it helped him, because Commander Saul Tigh wasn't exactly looked on fondly because of his declaration of martial law during Adama's recovery from being shot.

The Quorum of Twelve was divided along political lines these days, as five had joined in support of fellow Quorum member Zarek, who represented Sagittaron, and the other six in support of Roslin. The proceedings went smoothly enough, but the underlying tensions were there, as the election campaign was closing in on its start. Roslin didn't know if she would win, but she knew that if Zarek won, anything was possible.

It was after the adjournment of a session of the Quorum that brought a rather interesting surprise in the form of Commander Saul Tigh sitting in the office of Laura Roslin. As she entered her office, she was surprised that the commander got to his feet and saluted her, because she knew that he didn't have much regard for her or her authority. So when she returned the salute and asked him to sit, Roslin's mind wondered why Tigh was here.

"Let's cut to the chase, Commander. You don't like me and I don't like you. So why are you here?"

Tigh nodded and said, "I never said I didn't like you, just that I didn't think you were capable of the job. However, I have reason to believe now that you might be good enough to be president."

"Because if Zarek wins, he might just have you tried for imposing martial law. Right?"

Tigh sighed and replied, "I'm not worried about that. If it's to be, it'll be. However, I don't want that son of a bitch winning anyway."

"Because he's sleeping with your wife?"

Tigh laughed and said dismissively, "Hell, he can have her! Ever since we got here, I've been busy with affairs on Galactica, and she's not had time to do her prodding of me. Believe me, I'm the one who's happiest with current arrangements."

He leaned forward and added, "I have an offer I'd like to make. I don't know much about politics, but I think it could help you out a lot in your campaign against Zarek."

"What's that?" Roslin asked, intrigued at what Tigh was saying and slightly baffled by all of this.

Tigh took a breath and said, "If I offer to apologize for my actions and the imposition of martial law, and say that it was talking with you that convinced me to ask you for forgiveness as well as that of the populace."

Roslin didn't believe he was sorry for a second, and she said so. However, he surprised her by pulling out of his uniform a pocket version of the Sacred Scrolls. "Shortly after we met the Earthers, I had a talk with Adama. I asked him why he changed his mind about you. What he said got through to me, and, over the course of the last several weeks, I've come to realize that I've been wrong about a lot of things.

He opened the book and looked through it, adding, "I've been reading this book a lot on my downtime. I mainly did it to give me an excuse to avoid my wife, but, as time went on, I started understanding some things."

Roslin wasn't sure what to think about this as she asked, "Like what?" She was surprised again when Tigh started to get emotional.

"I was scared, Madam President. Scared of dying at the hands of the Cylons. Scared that we were going to be wiped out at any second by them. Did I ever tell you that I served in the First Cylon War?"

Roslin nodded and said, "I remember Adama saying something like that once."

"I started out as a deck hand, long ago." He said, and then laughed shortly as he added, "Much like Galen Tyrol, the guy who built the Blackbird, I rose to become deck chief." His face clouded over as he began to remember some difficult events in his past. "I managed to survive two Cylon attacks that destroyed the ships I was serving on. Then I got yanked into officer school and being assigned to pilot Vipers, which didn't help any. By all rights, I should have been flying a desk behind the lines."

"The war must have really affected you. Is that why you got out of the service after the war?"

"Partly. They dismissed me, and I hooked on to a freighter as a deck hand, barely eeking out an existence. Those were hard times, Madam President, and I became an alcoholic. Then I met Bill."

"I remember he said something about meeting you on a freighter once." Roslin said.

"Yeah, we hit it off and became friends. Hell, he always claimed that he'd get a battlestar one day, and, by Gods, he did it! When he went back into the service, he dragged me in with him, and we've been inseparable ever since."

She was stunned by all of this. Clearly she hadn't expected Tigh to come into her office and expose his soul like this. The political side of her was looking for ways to exploit this, but her religious side, which had grown exponentially since the holocaust, was tugging at her heart to help him. Ever since her spiritual guide, the priestess Elosha, had died on Kobol, she had come to realize that there was a spiritual vacuum inside the fleet.

By the time they were done, Tigh was clearly a changed man. It was a very emotional conversation, and both were in tears by the end of it. However, both had also come to an understanding and a friendship had been born that day.

Admiral William Adama didn't really think this was wise on the president's part, nor on the part of his friend, Saul Tigh. However, he also realized that this was necessary.

An emotional Tigh stood at the lectern, in front of the array of Colonial media, and made a heartfelt apology. Adama knew what he was going to say, but the sincerity and emotion that came from his friend surprised him, and he found that he had to brush aside a tear or two during the ceremony, managing to hide it cleverly by pretending to straighten his hair. He thought he fooled the media, but the smile coming from Roslin said that he hadn't fooled her.

"I reacted badly to the situation, and I made some mistakes. Mistakes that led to some civilian deaths, deaths that never should have happened. I cannot ask for your forgiveness, but I can ask for your understanding." Tigh said.

When it was over, Tigh saluted Roslin, and the president returned the salute. Adama turned to leave, but stopped short when Tigh began to take questions from the media. This wasn't what was supposed to happen, and, at first, he thought that the emotion had overcome his friend's better judgment. However, as Tigh answered question after question, he began to notice something inside of his old friend: strength.

Later on, they sat in his office aboard the station. It was a brief meeting, because Tigh was due to return to Galactica in an hour. "You've changed, Saul." Adama said.

"Have I? Why, I guess I have!" Tigh laughed, then grew serious. "I have you and the president to thank for it."

"Me?" Adama asked.

"I was scared, and I damn well knew you were as well. However, you handled it far better than I did, Bill."

"I don't know about that, Saul. Disposition had something to do with that, I suppose. It may also be the fact that I never thought we'd ever see Earth."

Tigh was brought up short by this confession. "I knew you were lying when you said you knew where it was, but I always figured that you hoped we'd get there."

"I was in denial. To be honest, old friend, I always expected that we would never make it. But I had to be strong for the crew, because they expected the old man to have the answers." Adama confessed.

He added, "That's why I changed my mind about Roslin. She had faith, where I didn't."

"You know, I used to think that all that religious stuff was fraked-up crap, but there may be something to it after all." Tigh said.

Adama nodded, adding, "The Minbari, I've learned, have a saying. 'Faith manages'. It was Delenn who told me that. Damned thing is, she's right."

"Maybe Roslin's our Delenn. Now all we need is our own John Sheridan and we'd be good to go."

Adama snorted and said, "Well, don't look at me! He's the one who got all the looks!" The two old friends laughed as they moved on to business.

Ellen Tigh drank from her glass of something called blackberry schnapps, which came from a place called Germany. She had no idea where this world was, but she liked the taste of the alcohol. After Tom Zarek clicked off the monitor, she poured him one as well, seeing that he needed it.

"You know, I hate this stuff, but Senator Cally down on Earth sent it up as part of a care package." Zarek said as he drank the stuff. "Good thing she sent along plenty of other alcohol to go along with it."

Ellen smiled and said, "She's quite a bitch, isn't she? Maybe Roslin can learn a few things from her, but only after she loses to you in the election!"

"Indeed! Looks like your husband has been busy!" Zarek said.

"Soon-to-be ex-husband, thank you very much. He's always been a weakling. Far as I can tell, Roslin's using him to get some sympathy points from the people."

Zarek nodded and added, "I don't think it'll work. People no longer consider her to be the religious icon that she used to be. It's a shame, really, but that's how it goes in politics and religion."

Ellen came around the bar and walked into her lover's embrace. "Who gives a damn about religion!" she whispered as she kissed him.

When they pulled apart, Zarek added, "Why don't we make some sweet music instead?", looking over to the bedroom in his suite. Ellen smiled and let her lover lead her to the bedroom.