The CIC hummed with activity. Billy Keikeya watched as the military people moved as a well oiled team. He had never had the urge to join the military as a schoolboy, his family had held strong beliefs about how the colonial government wasted money on the building of giant weapons platforms masquerading as space ships, but he had to admit he was often impressed with how well the crew of the Galactica functioned. He tried to keep out of the way. In theory he was supposed to be there, he was relaying messages between the president and the commander. In reality, he was being rewarded by the president by being given a chore that gave him time to see Dualla for a few hours. She was going off duty in few minutes and they were going to… Well, he was going to see her. Beyond that he didn't know.
He watched as she rattled off some complex series of numbers that had something to do with ships maintaining position to Lt. Gaeta. Sometimes he was jealous of Dualla's relationship with Gaeta. They were friends, they could talk and laugh and he always felt so awkward in comparison.
Dualla had been so amused when he had broached the topic with her. " He's a friend," she had insisted, " and a senior officer and he takes that pretty seriously. Besides, he thinks we're cute together." He hadn't found it as amusing, but some discrete checking had confirmed that Lt. Gaeta was not the competition he had thought. Besides, if working with Dualla daily wasn't counted, Gaeta had less free time to pursue her than he did.
He had heard rumors of another competitor, but he wasn't yet ready to face that. If Dualla was interested in Lee Adama, then he didn't know what he could do about it. The only thing he had over Lee was a few inches in height. And fewer father issues. Still, that versus the rock hard abs and shoulders of a fighter jock…. Billy sighed. It was probably a matter of time before he was dumped, but he planned to make the most of it.
Billy was near the entrance to the CIC so he knew exactly when Colonel Tigh made his unexpected entrance. The older man shoved him, muttering "out of my way," as he strode past. Billy caught the obvious whiff of alcohol on the man and decided to tag along. The president was not happy about the colonel's unstated but obvious drinking problem. If something was about to go down, she was going to want a full report.
Tigh walked right up to Gaeta, who seemed more than a little surprised to see the XO. " Is something wrong, sir?" Billy heard the younger man ask. From Dualla, he knew that Gaeta wasn't particularly fond of Tigh. A lot of why Gaeta was so busy was because he was generally doing his own work and Tigh's with next to no thanks from anyone. It only worked because Tigh generally seemed to appreciate Gaeta.
Which made it all the more shocking when Tigh punched Gaeta in the face, slamming the younger man into the computer banks. "Frakking Cylon spy!"
"Are you drunk?" Gaeta said as he pulled himself up. " What the hell are you talking about? I'm not a Cylon!"
Billy was struck by how no one seemed to know how to react. The two marines who guarded the CIC rushed over but didn't pull their weapons and everyone else just stood and watched.
" I saw the security tapes! You gave Valerii the gun she used to shoot the old man! Frakking traitor!" Tigh was more than drunk, he was enraged. Billy had to admit, the sheer vitriol Tigh was spouting made him wonder just what the man had on Gaeta. At the same time, Billy had to admit, he didn't think Gaeta was acting like a Cylon who had just been found out. The man was in shock, that was obvious, and instead of making a mad dash for the door or trying to kill his accuser, Gaeta was rubbing his head and trying to stop the flow of blood from the blow that Tigh had landed on him.
Billy somehow thought a Cylon wouldn't be terribly concerned with a little blood. He also thought that a Cylon would have had the reflexes to avoid the second wild punch that Tigh threw at him. Instead, Gaeta fell back into the computer console again and this time didn't make a move to get up. Tigh viciously kicked him, several times, but it was obvious to Billy that Gaeta was unconscious. He didn't want to intervene, Tigh was not someone he wanted to cross, but it was obvious that Gaeta wasn't going to get up, let alone attack anyone. He stepped forward, hoping to stop Tigh from landing another blow. If Gaeta was a Cylon, that made him a valuable tool for intelligence and killing it out of hand was foolish.
And Billy had a very bad feeling that Gaeta wasn't a Cylon. Tigh was drunk, and everyone in the CIC was obviously shocked. He hoped for Tigh's sake that the man was right.
Tigh grabbed one of the surprised marines and stripped her of her gun. He checked the weapon and then aimed it at Gaeta's head. Without thinking about it, Billy grabbed the man's hand.
" You can't do that," he said sternly. Billy was suddenly conscious of the fact that everyone in the CIC was staring directly at him. He was an outsider there, and he was suddenly conscious of just how serious the situation was. " You can't execute Lt. Gaeta in the CIC."
" He's a Cylon!" Tigh snarled. " I have proof!" Billy noted with concern that well over half the people in the room were nodding along to that. Tigh seemed to take confidence from that and drew himself up into a self righteous pose. " This is a military ship, Mr. Keikeya, and I have the right to summarily execute spies in a time of war."
" He's unconscious, and you're drunk. And while this may be a military ship, executing an unconscious man without a trial, or even an evaluation of the accusation is not going to happen." Billy let his voice project across the room. " Lt. Gaeta is a citizen of the twelve colonies and has legal rights. I for one would like to see what evidence you have before you kill him. I think the president would be interested as well."
Tigh smirked at him. " Fine. Venner, Stiles, take this … thing to the brig. Dualla, wake the commander." He looked Billy over as though he was looking at a bug he wanted to crush. " You think you're doing it a kindness? Three hours from now, when it's awake and conscious as your president orders it thrown out an air lock, I expect you to be there to watch. A bullet to the head is a kindness."
Tigh stalked away, leaving Billy standing by himself in the center of the CIC. What did I get myself into, he asked himself as Dualla came up to him. The colonel was right. The president wasn't going to want a lot of mercy shown to yet another Cylon spy and wasn't going to like the idea of his interfering with the Galactica command structure.
Dualla took his hand. " Thank you," she said softly. " The colonel is wrong… he has to be wrong."
" For Gaeta's sake I hope so… you know the president isn't going to wait very long. Neither is Commander Adama. He needs a lawyer." Billy knew that there were a few still in the fleet. He was surprised to see Dualla shake her head.
" That's not how it works, Billy," she said quickly. " If the commander even allows a trial, it's the military that does it. The lieutenant needs someone to act as his legal advocate. It has to be an officer."
"Preferably one that won't just agree to space Gaeta." Billy considered. He knew the officers of the Galactica. His first choice was Lee Adama but he ruled that out almost immediately. Lee was a good man, a fair man, but asking him to defend someone that may have tried to kill his father was asking too much.
Fortunately that wasn't the only possibility among the officer corps.