Baltar often wondered if he had died in the nuclear blast back on Caprica. He had a rich imagination, rich enough that if he was truly insane, he would have come up with something a lot less boring than the endless drudgery that was life on the Galactica. No, he was dead and being punished, that much was certain. That certainly explained the remaining 46,000 blood tests he had to process. It also explained why his lovely Cylon guide was casually fondling his assistant.

It especially explained why his assistant didn't seem to notice that she was fondling him as he worked on one of Baltar's tests. Of course, she is doing it to taunt me, Baltar reasoned as he watched his female nemesis rub herself up against Lt. Gaeta.

He shook it off. Ignoring her was usually a poor decision but she didn't want him to be caught. If he reacted to her, then Gaeta would be suspicious. The absolute last thing he needed was for his assistant, who conveniently doubled as his military watchdog, to get suspicious. He prided himself on making sure that Gaeta wasn't suspicious.

"So, Lt. Gaeta, how is your little project going?" As much as it galled him to have any facet of research taken from him, he had to admit that he just didn't have time to hand hold Sharon Valerii and beg her for hints about the Cylons. He didn't need to. He supposed that it was a fine project for a scientific beginner like Gaeta, but he didn't expect it to be fruitful.

Gaeta looked up from the microscope, clearly pleased to be asked. " It's going well, Dr. Baltar.

Six, he couldn't think of her by the name she had used on Caprica, leaned over Gaeta's shoulder and smiled wryly. " Try not to be too jealous, Gauis. Your little friend is saving you from hours of drudgery."

Hours of drudgery, yes. But if Gaeta was successful…. Baltar wondered if she realized just how precarious his position really was. Neither the president or the commander really trusted him. Gaeta already had some successes under his belt. A few more successes and Baltar didn't have any illusions about how his comfortable position would collapse. Sure he would still be vice president but he sensed that Commander Adama would prefer to have one of his officers in charge of the scientific research into the nature of Cylons.

" Have you made any headway?" he asked after a moment. He wanted to ask if Gaeta noticed that Six was running her hands through his hair but he knew how badly that question would be received.

"Some…" Gaeta said. He looked up from the blood test he was working on. " I think I got her to start thinking about her own identity as a Cylon versus being human. I had a theory about the human appearing Cylons that I shared with her. It might make her more willing to give us information."

Six licked her lips and ran her hands down Gaeta's body. " He has a theory, Gauis. Do ask him about it. I always enjoy watching humans go on about what they can't possibly understand." Her fondling grew more rigorous. Baltar found himself growing aroused at the sight of his lover touching his stoic, shy assistant. He wondered what the two of them would be like in bed, with him watching and possibly even making suggestions…

" Dr. Baltar?"

Baltar snapped back to the unpleasant reality of the lab. Gaeta was staring at him, with concern on his face. Six was conveniently absent. Gaeta gestured to himself, obviously puzzled.

" Is there something wrong with how I look? You're… staring at me." He brushed his uniform jacket.

" No no," Baltar said quickly. " I was just…"

" Wondering what his theory is," Six suddenly whispered in his ear, her breath hot upon his skin.

" Wondering… wondering your theory was, that it would jar a Cylon into helping us." Baltar stuttered out. It would have to be good. The Cylons he knew didn't generally find much about humanity threatening. " Come on, now, tell me about this theory." He sat down, and gestured for Gaeta to sit as well.

" It is just a theory," Gaeta began, his eyes suddenly bright with excitement. Baltar was envious again. He could remember the vitally alive feeling that exploring an idea used to bring him. As of late, all of his thinking had been done while in a high state of terror. He missed the sheer fun of having ideas, and having time to explore those ideas.

Gaeta gestured to one of the computers. " I was curious because while we have a lot of reports about the Cylons that appear human having super strength, but if you really read those reports, they aren't doing anything outside the high end of human norms…." As Gaeta explained his idea that human appearing Cylons were nothing more than brainwashed human clones, Baltar found himself intrigued.

" So just by cleaning up the human genome, the Cylons get willing human conspirators who appear smarter and stronger…" He considered that for a moment. It was intriguing.

" And since they are raised in a wholly Cylon environment, they believe they're Cylons." Gaeta tapped the table with his fingers. " That makes the baby Sharon is carrying as human as you or I."

" How dare he blaspheme God's chosen one," Six hissed. She glared at Baltar, inches away an explosion, he knew that from experience. The best thing was to appease her and keep his own interest a secret. The theory did explain quite a bit. Much was made of the Cylon strength, but there were too many reports that also involved humans defeating the human appearing Cylons. Commander Adama, hardly a young man, had beaten one to death. It was interesting. And he couldn't appear too enthused.

" It's only interesting if you can prove it," Baltar said in what he hoped was a wise, sage-like tone. Gaeta was one of the few people on the Galactica who respected him. He didn't want to ruin that. It was useful having a conduit to the commander. " Unfortunately, we don't have enough data to even get started on proving it. We've got one live Cylon and two dead ones. That won't give you enough data to prove the theory."

Gaeta nodded. " It is just a theory, and I know we don't have enough examples of the human appearing Cylons to prove anything, but Sharon doesn't know that. If I can convince her that she isn't really a Cylon, then she might give up some of the technical data on the Cylon virus. She was startled by the idea, I could see it on her face."

" And the Sharon models aren't very smart," Six muttered. " Of course, your little pet student is smarter. Perhaps his genome was cleaned up. Have you ever really tested Lt. Gaeta, Gauis?"

" No, you're right," Baltar said nervously. " If you can get anything out of Valerii using this theory, you should use it. But, I must say, I think I have kept you far too long." He wanted Gaeta out of the lab before he rechecked the testing results.

" I do have watch soon," Gaeta said tiredly. " I probably won't have any time to help you for the next few days."

" That's quite all right," Baltar said easily. He quickly ushered Gaeta to the door. " Do let me know how your idea pans out." He closed the hatch door and spun around to face Six. " Just what the hell are you suggesting?"

Six snickered at him. " What's the matter, Gauis? Haven't you tested the young lieutenant? Mind you, I think I would have recalled seeing him at the Cylon cloning factory that he thinks we all come from, but perhaps you should keep a closer eye on him." She began to casually undress.

At least, Baltar thought before he succumbed to her charms once again, Gaeta's little theory got her angry enough to stop teasing me with him.