The special cell was well lit. It surprised him for some reason. Battlestars of the same class as the Galactica were notorious for being dimly lit. He understood the reasons behind it, better than most on the ship. The lighting was designed to be efficient, to keep the most space lit with the least amount of energy. That way, the ship's energy could be diverted to more important things like the weapon batteries and the flight deck. In theory, the light frequency was adjusted so that everyone got enough necessary vitamin D. Gaeta knew it was probably true, but he didn't feel it. He longed to feel sunlight on his skin, and fresh air. He had been on the Galactica for three years with his last shore leave planetside nine months before the holocaust. It was a long time to go without a few days of fun in the sun. He had planned to take almost a month of accumulated leave once the Galactica was decommissioned, and spend the entire time sailing around Caprica's beaches with some friends, baking in the sun to recharge for the next assignment.
Now, Caprica's beaches were so much radioactive glass and he couldn't even remember what it was like to walk on something other than hard deck plating. Worse, he was jealous that the Cylon prisoner had a cheerier place to live than he did. Bigger too. It even felt less dank. The real hazard on a ship the Galactica's age was the humidity and temperature systems functioning at less than optimal levels. The temperature was kept low, and things like showers and laundry lost moisture no matter how efficient they were. Add in the increasingly large number of people who were using the end of civilization as an excuse to stop bathing, and the Galactica smelled like a dirty, moldy gym locker.
Do your job, he told himself as he took a seat in the hard metal chair that had been placed in front of the glass divider. The commander wasn't expecting miracles, he had said as much in the mission briefing. Any information would help, even if it was simple insight into how Cylons thought. He plugged his headset into the wall phone and tapped the glass. Dr. Baltar was supposed to have informed Sharon of the new rules but it wouldn't shock him to discover that the scientist had conveniently forgotten.
Sharon stepped over and took a seat. She looked annoyed with him as she picked up the headset that had been installed for her. " Whose idiot idea was this? Yours?"
Yeah, this will be productive, he thought tiredly. " No, it wasn't. I take it that Dr. Baltar has explained the new rules concerning visitation?" The new rules amounted to no visitors at all unless Sharon agreed to submit to three one hour sessions a week with him.
" I don't have to talk to you, I just have to sit here." She smirked at him.
It clicked with him suddenly that she had come to the head set pretty quickly for someone who wasn't planning to talk. " Same here." He leaned back in the chair. He had a feeling he was right. If he was wrong, well then he got a few minutes to sit quietly. Sitting quietly was a rare pleasure, much like eating a decent meal or getting a hot shower. A day with all three hadn't happened in a long time.
After about ten minutes, she started tapping her fingers. He ignored it. He hadn't known Sharon Valerii that well before the colonies were destroyed. He had gotten to know her better after, and he was willing to admit he had been completely fooled. He still had nightmares about shaking her hand and watching her gun the commander down. It was a memory that still had the power to make him shake when he thought about it too much. He didn't like the fact that Helo professed to be in love with her, or that it was obvious that Chief Tyrol still had feelings for her, despite the reality that the Sharon sitting in front of him was not the one who had been having the torrid affair with the chief. He didn't want to be sitting inches from a Cylon who had betrayed all of the things he believed in as an officer of the fleet.
But an officer of the fleet followed lawful orders, and unlike so many of his compatriots, he couldn't figure out a good reason to say no. There were any number of reasons why he didn't want to be there. He barely had time to breathe without adding extra duty to his day. He hadn't known Sharon that well, but he hadn't disliked her. He couldn't help but remember the reports of what had gone on with the Pegasus and he didn't want any part of that kind of activity.
But mostly he was just tired and it was becoming clear that the special brig was definitely warmer than his quarters. His eyelids started to droop. The beach, he thought, that would be nice. Sand under his feet, a salty tang in the air. He inhaled deeply.
" Are you sleeping?" He jerked upright. Sharon was staring at him, obviously amused. She crossed her arms. " Aren't you supposed to be the ship master interrogator?" She snickered.
He rubbed his face, biding for time to think of his next move. He knew next to nothing about interrogation but it had to be a good sign that she had cracked first. Even if he had been falling asleep. Finally he said, " I'm just the person willing to do this. And I'm tired. I have to work. You said you weren't going to talk. Why shouldn't I get some rest?"
" Nice to see you taking your duty so seriously. I always thought you were such a grind, running around the CIC acting like the commander's lap dog." She laughed.
" I always thought you were nice. A little boring maybe, and pretty dumb to get so wrapped up with Chief Tyrol." He rolled his eyes. " We all knew about the chief and you."
She glared at him. " Don't call me dumb. You're the stupid one. I'm not that Sharon."
" I know. What puzzles me is how you even know who I am." He waited for a response. He had read the reports about the other cylons and about this Sharon as well. " Well? I think we've been face to face maybe once since you came aboard this ship. So how do you know I'm a grind and the commander's lap dog? How do you know anything about me?"
Her eyes narrowed. Score one for me, Gaeta thought with no small sense of satisfaction. For the rest of the hour, they stared at each other without a word being said.
Dualla yawned. If every session was going to be three minutes of conversation and fifty seven minutes of quiet even breathing, she was probably going to start falling asleep herself. She shivered a little as the air scrubbers came on. The areas of the ship that weren't living quarters weren't heated to the same levels. It didn't make much difference when she was doing her usual job because she kept busy, but sitting for an hour in a dank dirty closet had her chilled to the bone. She was about to signal Gaeta that it was time to quit when the commander entered the room. She stood up. "Commander Adama, sir"
" At ease, Dee." He looked around the small room, taking it all in with a glance. She knew that the commander had no love at all for Dr. Baltar and he was just adding the dirty room to the pile of things that worried him about the doctor. He gestured to the recorder. " Where did you find that?"
" In the museum storage locker," she answered. " There's a lot of still serviceable equipment there." And Gaeta had been unable to get one of the newer recorders that didn't use archaic technology from Dr. Baltar, but she sensed that she didn't need to mention it.
"Hmm a good idea," Adama said after a moment. " I don't think we took inventory there beyond the Vipers and parts for the Vipers." He waited, clearly expecting something.
She hit the button that signaled Gaeta's headset. " We just finished. She hardly spoke at all. She got mad when Lt. Gaeta tricked her into admitting she had some shared memories with the other Sharon."
Adama smiled slightly, which she didn't understand. They already knew that Cylons could share some memories. On the other hand, she had to admit that she was surprised that the Cylon had said anything. It wasn't like Gaeta was beating her. Falling asleep in a chair was hardly intimidating.
They both jumped when the hatch door opened and Gaeta stepped in. He snapped to attention. " Sir, I didn't realize you were coming down… I don't have a report ready yet."
" I'm not looking for an official report," Adama said easily. Dualla tried not to smile. The commander had a way of handling people that bordered on fatherly. She wondered if he realized it or if it was unintentional. He gestured for Gaeta to close the hatch. " I want your impressions. Do you think this will work? Or are we wasting time that could be better spent somewhere else?"
In an instant, Dualla realized that Gaeta was flushed with excitement. She had seen that look from him before, when he was working a particularly difficult problem, or when he was doing something technical. He liked problems. Working on something intricate and detailed and difficult was something that deep down Gaeta liked. No matter that he had accomplished nothing with the Cylon, he was forming ideas on new ideas to try to get the Cylon to talk.
Which meant she was going to spend more time sitting in a cold dingy closet. A lot more time. She stifled a sigh.
" I think it went well, sir. I didn't learn anything new but I didn't expect to in the first session." Gaeta paused. " I think it's going to take some time."
" I'll expect a full report by next watch." With that, Adama left.
Dualla waited for the door to close before she said, with a smile on her face" You fell asleep, sir."
He nodded, and smiled back. " I did. But I got her to talk first. Now I just have to figure out how to get her to talk about something useful."
Oh yeah, Dualla thought tiredly, this was going to involve a lot of time and banging heads into walls before he got tired of it.