Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Lee Adama was furious. He stormed down the corridors of Galactica, heading towards CIC, and everyone he saw along the way practically backed up against the walls to let him pass. No one wanted to get in the way of the force in human form that was Captain Lee Adama for the time being.

The past couple of weeks had placed tremendous pressures upon Lee. His father was still in a coma, there was still no word about Kara, he had helped fight off a Cylon boarding of the Galactica, and had managed to organize and lead a rescue mission to Kobol to save the survivors of their stranded survey team.

But now, Lee was having to deal with an increasingly erratic Colonel Tigh. If Lee was having problems coping with the myriad crises and personal turmoil in his life, Tigh was not coping at all. He was definitely drinking a lot more, and kept making messes that Lee would try to clean up. But this time, Lee didn't think he could clean up the mess Tigh made.

When he got to CIC, Lee saw Tigh standing at the plotting table with Lt. Gaeta. Lee marched right over to him.

"SIR!" he yelled. "How could you send that boarding party over to that re-supply ship without checking with me!"

"The last time I looked, I don't HAVE to check ANYTHING with you!" yelled Tigh. "I'm in command of this ship!"

"You could have at least sent me in charge!" said Lee. "That boy you sent wasn't equipped to handle that situation!"

"That boy is an officer, and therefore should be able to command in any situation!" replied Tigh.

"He's a PILOT!" countered Lee. "Not a crowd control expert! Now, because of you, we have dead civilians on the DECK, shot by our MEN!"

"This is exactly why I didn't send you!" said Tigh. "You have been getting more and more insubordinate lately! I know you are upset about your father and that frak-up of a girl you call your wife…"

Lee closed the distance with Tigh with a look of fury on his face. "WATCH, YOUR, STEP, COLONEL!" said Lee, in a quiet tone nonetheless filled with rage.

"No, you watch yours, CAPTAIN!" said Tigh. "Now, get out of my CIC, or I'll throw your ass into the brig!"

Lee didn't bother to say anything else. He simply turned and stormed out of CIC. Lee didn't know where he was going, but instead just tried to put as much distance between him and Tigh as possible.

"Captain Adama," said a familiar male voice.

Lee stopped and saw Billy Keikaya step towards him from a side corridor. "Whatever it is, now is not the time, Billy!" said Lee, sternly.

"I'm sorry, but the President…"

"I've told you before, and I will tell you again," said Lee. "I have nothing to say to Roslin, and there is nothing she can say that I want to hear."

"Please, Captain," said Billy. "She knows about what happened today. The dead civilians. She really needs to talk to you."

Lee took a deep breath. Billy had been pestering him lately about the President wanting to see him. Lee would have none of it. He was still pissed at her for manipulating Kara into undertaking that mission to Caprica. But now, Lee was losing confidence in Colonel Tigh, and was running out of people to turn to. Right now, he was ready to grasp at anything that might give him hope that the madness that had become his life would end.

"Fine," said Lee. "Let's go."

When Lee got to the brig, he found Roslin sitting in her cell reading a book. It looked like a religious text, but since Lee wasn't particularly religious himself, he didn't recognize it off hand.

"Captain," said Roslin, putting down the book and standing to face Lee. "I'm so glad you agreed to see me. Sergeant, Billy, could you give us some time."

Both the guard and Billy left the brig, and closed the outer door behind him. Lee found it odd that a guard was leaving his post at the behest of the prisoner he was supposed to be guarding, but didn't dwell on it. Instead, he stood facing the woman in front of him. The anger came back to the surface within moments.

"So, I hear you are some kind of prophetess now," said Lee, the spite evident in his voice. "Interesting play on your part, announcing your illness to the Quorum of Twelve."

"Frankly, I don't know," said Roslin. "All I know is that I am meant to play some part in a story that was foretold by the scriptures. I didn't ask for this, but it is what the gods have handed to me."

"So are you next going to tell me that Kara's little trip to Caprica for some frakking arrow was also foretold by the scriptures?" asked Lee. "Because if you are going to tell me that it was the fault of the gods that Kara was manipulated into taking on your frakking assignment, I am leaving!"

"Captain, I know why you are angry and you have every right to be," said Roslin. "I know you love Lt. Thrace very deeply, and that you must be worried sick over her safety at this moment. Perhaps I did manipulate her into retrieving the arrow, but it was ultimately her choice to make."

"She never would have betrayed my father unless you put her up to it," said Lee.

"I never could have gotten her to go against your father if the Commander did not plant the seeds of her rebellion in her," said Roslin. "He was the one who annulled your marriage, and who worked to keep you apart from one another. And Kara herself had put your father up on a pedestal. It turned out he was only human after all, and that hurt Kara as well."

Lee became silent. He knew in his mind that was Roslin was saying was at least partly true. Kara probably wouldn't have done this if it weren't for her anger at his father.

"Captain…Lee," said Roslin. "Remember when you did some manipulating of your own? You forced both your father and myself into a settlement with Tom Zarek and into agreeing to hold presidential elections. You did so in the name of democracy. Both your father and I were mad as hell at you. But I think I was actually angry with you the most because in my heart I knew you were correct. It is not enough to stay alive. We have to maintain our society and civilization, including a civilian government. If we succumb to a military dictatorship…"

"Should that civilian government be ruled by someone who is less than competent?" asked Lee.

"I see, and you are the one who gets to decided if I am competent to be president or not," said Roslin. "Or your father is. Where are military coups allowed in the constitution, Captain?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," said Lee.

"So you help remove the rightful president of the colonies from office by force of arms," said Roslin. "So much for your high-minded ideals about democracy. And let's be honest. Did you really help to remove me from Colonial One that day because you don't trust my leadership, or was it because I sent Lt. Thrace on dangerous, unauthorized mission?"

"Maybe a little bit of both," admitted Lee.

"So you get to throw away democracy because of a personal vendetta," said Roslin.

"It wasn't my decision," said Lee. "It was my father's."

"You were just following orders," said Roslin. "How many crimes have been committed in history by people who used just that same excuse?"

Lee looked away from the woman in the cell; suddenly feeling a little bit of shame over what he took part in. His grandfather had been a constitutional attorney, and he grew up admiring the stands he took in the name of freedom. Lee grew up believing in democracy, and he had done something to threaten that belief because of his personal anger.

"Let me ask you this," said Roslin. "How do you like the alternative? Tigh orders the forcible taking of supplies, and sends soldiers over who kill civilians in the process."

Lee hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He turned to look at her. "Tigh is becoming unhinged," said Lee. "He can't handle the command, but I just…don't know what to do about any of it."

"Lee, I need to get out of here," said Roslin. "I need to gain public support to restore a democratic government and bring order to the chaos that is threatening to rip apart what remains of our people. I also need to get to Kobol, to be there when your wife returns with the arrow. If it leads us to Earth, then that may be our people's salvation. Your father told the people that when we started our journey. I just want to make his words become reality."

"He still hasn't regained consciousness," said Lee. "He is still in a coma, and you want me to help you betray him."

"He made a decision in the heat of anger just as you did," said Roslin. "I want to put things right, and to keep the word that he gave to the people about Earth. But I can't do that without your help. In the meantime, Tigh's power goes unchecked, and this fleet continues on the road towards disaster. You once believed in me, and helped me. I need you to do so again."

Lee was silent for a long time, absorbing everything that had been happening since the day Kara left, and everything Laura Roslin just said to him. Had he really allowed his personal feelings to override his beliefs and ideals? Had his father done the same? Was there any other way to try and put things right? Lee didn't know. He just felt that he needed to do something to end the madness, and Laura Roslin might have a way of doing that. Finally, Lee nodded his head.

"Okay," he said. "I'll try to work out something."

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It had been such a long time since she played pyramid. The game had been such a big part of her life once. It was her way out of the misery that home represented to her as a young woman. When she injured her knee in a pyramid tournament, and lost her athletic scholarship, Kara had thought her life was over. But then she discovered her new life as a pilot. Still, the game of pyramid would always have a special place in her heart. Spending the day playing it had relieved some of the tension she had been feeling for what seemed like an eternity now. The whole world fell away as she played the game against an opponent who more than challenged her abilities.

Only the end of the world would give Kara Thrace a chance to play pyramid with Samuel Anders of the Caprica Buccaneers, one of the top teams in the colonies. As she ran around the court with Anders, Kara could feel the thrill of competition overwhelm them both. And perhaps, something else was happening between them as well. Kara generally knew when men were attracted to her, and Anders made no pretense about it. Every time they collided on the pyramid court, Kara could feel Anders' hands linger on her body.

As they walked away from the pyramid court towards one of the buildings, Kara took a few good looks at Anders. He was definitely an attractive man, and he was certainly her type. Several times on the court, when their bodies collided, she felt her own arousal at the feeling of his strong, lithe body against hers.

They went into one of the classrooms in the school that was transformed into a base of operations for Anders' resistance group. There was a teacher's desk in the middle of the room and a couple of makeshift bunks laid out around it. Anders sat down at the desk, pulled out a box of cereal, and began to eat.

"Have a seat," said Anders. "You've got to be starving. There's plenty here."

"What have you got?" asked Kara, sitting down at the desk.

"Well, all the best cuisine," said Anders. "Corn flakes, bran cereal, corn puffs."

"All you have is breakfast food?" asked Kara.

"All that was left in the school cafeteria that wasn't spoiled," said Anders. "We've made several raids on grocery stores, but its best to use up the older stuff first."

Kara sat and ate a box of cereal, while she engaged in conversation with Anders. They talked about pyramid mostly, avoiding any subject dealing with their new reality. After finishing their meal, Kara got up from her seat.

"So, where can I crash?" asked Kara. "I'm pretty worn out."

"Any bunk in here is fine," said Anders. "I tend to sleep in that one over there."

He pointed to one of the bunks, and then walked over to be closer to Kara. "You sure you feel like going to sleep?" asked Anders.

"Why do you ask?" replied Kara.

Anders put his arms around Kara, and brought her body up to hers. "Don't tell me you aren't attracted to me. I'm sure as hell hot for you."

"We barely know each other," said Kara, a slight smile on her face.

"I know all I need to, considering our circumstances," said Anders. "What the frak do we have to loose, except a great frak if we decided not to?"

Kara thought about Anders' words. "What do I have to loose?" Kara thought to herself. "Lee will probably never speak to me again. And Anders is probably a great frak."

Anders took Kara's silence for willingness. He pulled her closer and started kissing her. Kara began running her hands through Ander's hair, and then along his muscular back. She could feel the bulge in his pants rub against her, and it made her own arousal grow with each passing moment.

Anders began leading Kara over to one of the bunks. He pulled her down on top of him, and began removing her shirt. Kara was working at the belt of his pants. But as she did, Kara caught sight of something glinting on her finger. It was her wedding ring, the one she put one when she promised to be Lee Adama's wife. The day she became sealed to him for life. Sudden shame washed over Kara, and she jumped off of Anders as if the very sight of him revolted her.

"Hey, what gives?" asked Anders, sitting up with a flustered expression.

"Not me, let's put it that way," said Kara.

"Why? I thought…"

"Look, Anders, we are not going to frak! End of story!" yelled Kara. "Now, I want to sleep somewhere else!"

"Fine," said Anders, a tone of irritation in his voice. "But at least you could give me an explanation!"

"Fine, I'm married. How's that? My husband is back on Galactica! He may never speak to me again because I took this little field trip back to Caprica without telling him beforehand, but I'll be damned if I'll cheat on him. I love him too much!"

Kara stormed out of the room and left Anders sitting on the bunk in shock. As she marched down the hallway, Kara was mentally kicking herself for what she was about to do.

"Kara," said a familiar voice.

Helo grabbed her by the arm from behind. Kara spun to look at him.

"WHAT!" asked Kara, in an irritated voice.

"I've been wondering where you got off to," said Helo.

"Looking for a rack to sleep in," said Kara. "Where have they got you sleeping?"

"In a room down the hall," said Helo. "A history classroom. Ironic thing is, I always sucked at history."

"Fine, you've got a roommate," said Kara. "Let's get some sleep, huh."

"Sure," said Helo. "Just as long as you don't snore."

End of Chapter Twenty-Nine. Chapter Thirty coming soon. As always, feedback/reviews are welcomed and appreciated.