Chapter 13
Starbuck knocked on Beanpole's door. "Yo, Beanpole, get up. Admiral Adama wants to talk to you."
However there was no reply. Starbuck banged on the door louder. There was still no reply.
"Come on, this isn't time for practical jokes." She yelled.
Still not getting any kind of response she opened the door. Beanpole was lying on the bed face down, his left arm draped over the side, his right arm lying loosely beside him. Starbuck rolled him over onto his back.
"Come on sleepyhead get up," she said.
But Beanpole didn't move. He didn't even make a sound. Starbuck looked to see the gentle rise of his chest as he breathed and realized that it wasn't even there.
"Frak," Starbuck muttered under her breath.
"Somebody get a medical team in here!" Starbuck yelled.
She immediately began to perform cardio pulmonary resuscitation. But his body felt so cold. She had no long he had been like this. The medical team arrived and began rushing back to sickbay, but Starbuck didn't go with them. She stayed behind and sat on the cot and wept.
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"Wow," I commented hearing about what had happened. "So I really was dead."
Doctor Cottle nodded, "But we didn't have time to determined a cause of death. We quickly given another case to worry about."
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D'anna Biers had escaped to the Astral Queen to avoid being caught by the marines that had been sent to arrest her. However all that did was delay the inevitable. Tom Zarek was more than willing to allow the marines on board to arrest somebody that was not him or one of his allies. He had some respect for D'anna but felt that she would not make a very good ally since he didn't trust her one bit. He never had trusted journalist to do anything other than dig up dirt on other people. Something he no longer required.
D'anna had put up a fight and demanded to know why she was being arrested. But the Marines either didn't know or weren't willing to give her a reason. They followed their orders and took the woman back to Galactica where she was kept in a holding cell. Doctor Baltar had performed one of his Cylon detection test on her. Since Adama had become increasingly distrustful of Baltar he had one of his Lieutenants, Lieutenant Gaeta oversee the test. The result had been that the test had come back positive. Upon hearing this news the Cylon had tried to escape, but it was shot three times in the back by a marine. From there Doctor Cottle had been researching on the new Cylon corpse, distracting him from performing the autopsy on Beanpole.
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"Wow, I was right," I commented. "That's just, odd."
"There are rumours running around all over the ship," Doctor Cottle explained. "Doctor Baltar seems worried that you're going to replace him as the lead Cylon expert."
"Well, I don't think that will be happening," I said. "I think Doctor Baltar has a lot more experience with Cylons that I do. All I've ever done is find 'em and kill 'em."
"But that is what this war is all about," Cottle reminded me.
"Anyway, speaking of Doctor Baltar, I need to speak with him. So if you'll please excuse me." I said.
"You can't leave," Doctor Cottle said. "You just came back from the dead, I need to run some test…"
"Doc, you can run as many tests as you fraking want, when I get back." I interrupted.
Before Doctor Cottle could say anything else I got up and left sickbay.
In my wake as I left sickbay was I left a large number of scared individuals. I had no idea that news of my death had circulated the entire ship and that everybody knew about it. I nervously waved at people but that only seemed to frighten them more. Their thoughts were screaming in my head. Most of them thought I was some sort of ghost. A few thought I was either a vampire or a zombie, while a small number thought that I was a Cylon. I didn't have time to talk to them and explain what had happened. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad was about to happen soon and that Doctor Baltar was somehow involved. I kept on running through the corridors oblivious to the screams and stares. I had to confirm my suspicions.
I burst into Doctor Baltar's lab/office. He stopped talking, seemingly in the middle of conversation with the woman I had seen earlier.
"Isn't he dead?" the woman asked Baltar as she stared at me in disbelief.
Doctor Baltar was equally dumbfounded. "You… you… were… I saw… you were on a… and your… autopsy…" Baltar stammered incoherently.
"No Baltar, you're just crazy, first you see fake Cylons in your head and then you see ghosts." I explained.
"He knows about us," the woman said. "You'll have to eliminate him."
"You know I'm right here," I interrupted her. "Frak, clearly you stupid toaster weren't programmed for manners."
"So you can see her?" Baltar asked. "Then you must be in my head."
"In a manner of speaking, yes I am," I replied.
Baltar quickly clued in as to what I was implying. "Oh no, you're reading my thoughts," Baltar lamented.
"You need to kill him Gaius," the woman insisted once again.
"You know, it's really rude, to discuss murdering a person when they're in the same room and they can hear you." I said to the woman and then I turned to Baltar. "You know, this will get you in a lot of trouble Doc. Fraternizing with the enemy? And you know what? I don't think I'm the only one who knows, something tells me that someone else out there knows about this."
Baltar was staring at me with a look of absolute horror on his face. "Please don't tell anyone," he pleaded.
"You know that I can't do that," I said. "You betrayed us. You let the Cylons almost wipe us out."
"You deserved it," the woman sneered.
"Get her out of here," I said to Baltar.
"I can't," Baltar said nearly on the verge of tears.
"Yes you can," I told him sternly. "She is just the nasty part of your subconscious mind that wants to see the human race wiped out."
"Please," Baltar pleaded. "I didn't know what would happen."
"You knew the possible consequences, the possibility of the destruction of the twelve colonies," I said. "You knew, you just chose to ignore them for your own selfish interests."
Baltar leapt at me furious trying to attack but I had seen it come. I stepped aside and drove an elbow into his back send him crashing to the floor.
"Give it up Baltar," I said looking down at him. "One way or another you've lost."
I felt a rather strong hand grip me around the back of my neck. I cringed in pain. She was just a vision how could she be interacting with me? I didn't care how anymore I swung a back elbow and hit her in the temple knocking her back but she was still standing. The Cylons were stronger and tougher than normal humans but still mortal. I quickly followed up my attack by turning and tackling her knees as hard as I could bending them in the wrong direction.
"Stop!" Baltar pleaded, "Don't kill her!"
But I wasn't about to listen to Baltar. I got on top of her and began strangling her to death. She punched me in the face and I responded by dropping an elbow onto her throat crushing it. Suddenly the body just vanished. I looked over at Baltar. He was a neurotic mess. He had developed a nervous twitch and he just stared forward his eyes practically bulging out of his head looking at nothing in particular.
I stood up to go and speak to Admiral Adama. He should be the first to know what I had done. But as I did I found it hard to breathe. I clutched my chest, my lungs burned in agony.
No, I thought to myself. Not yet. I'm not ready to leave yet.
But there was nothing I could do as the darkness quickly swallowed me.
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The End? I'm not sure. I'll at least write an Epilogue of sorts, it entirely depends upon my inspiration and whether I am inspired to continue the story.
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