Ch 34

Lee sat in his seat next to Taylor in the Raptor, ready to jump but still not going anywhere. Taylor was such a stickler for doing everything by the books he kept making Lee double check him on everything. When Taylor asked Lee why he was not paying attention, Lee's response made Taylor doubt his willingness to be a working member of the Pegasus crew but they had a mission to fly and it would be done if he had to shove the other man out the hatch and fly alone.

Lee felt the hostility from Taylor coming off in waves and he backed off a bit and let the other man be in charge. He hated the fact that there was nothing he could do for the Chief and Helo but he knew that his father would pull them out of the fire. Lee looked over at Taylor one more time as he called out that there was ten minutes left before the jump and he studied the other man. Lee had not been around him very long but there was definitely a reason that Taylor didn't like him. He made a mental note to figure out what the reason was once they got back to the Pegasus.

Back aboard the Galactica, Commander Adama was receiving word that his men had already been tried and were going to be executed for treason. His mind raced to find a way to make Admiral Cain see reason and when he called her and tried to talk sense into her he finally realized that there would be no reason from her. He ordered Colonel Tigh to launch that raptor with the marines on board and he prayed to every God available to end this peacefully.

When the action stations alert blared through the flight deck of the Pegasus, Lauren knew her time was up. She wasn't on duty at the moment so she didn't race for her Viper. Instead she pounded her fist against a wall, trying desperately to figure out a way to get the situation under control. Suddenly she had a flash of inspiration and she bolted for the hatch door.

She nearly ran several people over in her haste to reach the communications station near the CIC. When she did, she eased into the small room and looked for her friend Thena. She saw the diminutive woman on the far side of the room and a grin split her face. Lauren eased into the seat next to her and leaned over her shoulder.

"Do you have an open line to the Colonial One yet Thena?"

"Yeah, we just got it up the other day. Why?"

"I need you to call over there and get me the President. I need to talk to her ASAP and it is deadly important."

"I don't know if I can get her but I'll try." Thena started making the call and Lauren listened as she worked her way up the chain of command on the President's staff. She finally reached one of the Presiden't personal aides and he would let her go no further without an explanation of who was calling and why. Thena looked at Lauren who'd put on another headset and jacked herself into Thena's console.

"This is Captain Baker on the Pegasus. Are you aware of the situation that is happening between the two Battlestars right now sir?" There was a long pause as the young man checked his information.

"I'm aware of something happening out there but we've not been informed exactly what. Can you enlighten me?"

"I sure can. Right now there is about to be a war started over the lives of two men from the Galactica. If you let me speak to the President for all of two minutes I can tell her how to stop this from happening."

She could hear the shock in the man's voice, "Uh…let me see if I can get her for you. Hold on just a moment please."

Thena looked at Lauren and questioned the conversation with her eyes. Before Lauren could explain herself, the phone was picked up on the other end.

"This is President Roslin. Tell me what's happening please."

"Madame President, I'm Captain Baker from the Pegasus. You can stop this situation from escalating. Admiral Cain is determined to execute two men from the Galactica over an accidental death. Lt. Thorne was sent by Admiral Cain to interrogate the Galactica's Cylon prisoner and apparently the situation became violent towards her. Lt. Agathon and Chief Tyrol were defending her and Lt. Thorne was accidentally killed." Lauren paused and heard the gasp of disbelief from the President. "Ma'am, the Admiral is calling for aggression against Commander Adama because he's sent marines over here to retrieve his men. If you can take control of this situation it can be ended before shots are fired."

"I'm not sure I can end it Captain. Admiral Cain has made it very clear that she will not be taking orders from me. What did you have in mind?"

"Ma'am, forgive me, but is Lt. Valerii… um, the Cylon, your prisoner or a military prisoner?"

"The Cylon is a prisoner of the Colonies, yes. She was taken into custody by me on Kobol. The military prisoner was the one that was killed."

"So this Cylon is definitely your prisoner correct?"

"Yes she is. I see where you're going Captain but I don't think that Admiral Cain will buy it since she was being held on the Galactica at the time."

"Madame President, forgive my forwardness but do you in fact have a brig on the Colonial One?"

Lauren could hear the smile in the President's reply, "Thank you Captain. If you'll excuse me I need to make a phone call to Admiral Cain."

The connection clicked off and Lauren heaved a sigh of relief as she took off the headset. She looked at Thena who was staring at her in disbelief. "Thena, can you log that as one of the 'looking for a relative' calls? I can't let the Admiral find out what we just did."

"Done and done. Gods but I hope that worked. I'd hate to see innocent people go the way of the last XO."

"Me neither. I'll pray that it does later. Right now I've got to go look busy and you'd better do so too." With that Lauren left the comm room and headed back to the flight deck.