Chapter 15 of The Phoenix and The Wolverine

The Basestar; Conference Room One...

Caprica Six found herself tapping her right foot impatiently; she had called for a high level meeting.

Every cylon representative had shown up; except Cavil.

She felt like screaming; the stubborn idiot was trying to show who was boss by keeping the rest of them waiting. It looked like he had forgotten that he had been voted in and could be so easily voted out.

"I'm sure he's on his way," said Boomer calmly.

Six glared at her. "Oh really; so can you tell me what's keeping him?"

Boomer hesitated briefly before answering. "I don't know."

Six narrowed her eyes. Ever since Boomer had resurrected after the failed attempt on Adama's life; she had been different.

Harder in body and soul; impossible to read.

And then again; there was her strange relationship with Cavil.

Six was sorely tempted to ask the Eight if she was sleeping with Cavil; but some instinct held her back.

Caprica looked at the rest of the group.

Aaron Doral was staring at a handheld e-pad; possibly replaying the brief disastrous battle with the Xavier.

God help them if they ever met a fleet of those ships.

Leoben Conoy and Simon O'neill seemed to be having a low key argument.

Naturally Caprica would have been curious about what was been said but she had so many things on her mind.

D'anna was silent; staring into space with a worried expression on her face.

Six was about to ask her what was wrong when she heard a familiar voice.

"Oh how nice of you to wait," said Cavil in a sarcastic tone as he walked into the conference room followed by two gold centurions.

Six looked at the metal guards; then looked back at the smug looking Number One.

Cavil was playing the intimidation card. She looked at the centurions.

"You may leave us now."

They showed no sign of moving; also their single red light eye which always seemed to be moving was still and staring straight ahead.

No one noticed when D'anna started concentrating on the two centurions.

Cavil grinned evilly. "Ah; I forgot to tell you that they are directly under my command."

The Six tilted her head to one side. "Oh is that so?" she snapped her fingers and everyone; including Aaron looked up at the sound of several marching metallic feet.

12 golden centurions came into the room; a pair planted themselves behind each cylon representatives.

Unlike the centurions of Cavil; their red lights were roving and moving about.

The smug look slid from the Number One's face. "Six; this is not a game that you can win."

Caprica leaned forward as she glared at him. " I have no intention of losing to you; Cavil."

The sound of slow clapping had them turning towards Leoben.

"If you two are done showing off; we have much more serious matters to attend to...like the obvious fact that the Thirteenth Tribe is now allied with the Colonials."

"Oh yes," said Cavil as he turned away from the fuming Caprica " and who do we have to thank for that?"

Boomer narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Cavil grinned coldly. "I do recall that when you, D'anna and Caprica first met the members of the Thirteenth Tribe on that forsaken planet; you tried to force them to come with you...after stating you were going to execute the colonials."

Caprica's jaw dropped as she glanced at Boomer who was now very pale and staring at Cavil as if she had never seen him before.

D'anna turned to the Number Eight. "You reported everything back to him," it was not a question. Boomer looked too distraught and betrayed to answer.

Cavil continued. "So; my fellow cylons if any one seeks someone to blame for the current situation; look no further that the Fabulous Three Female Cylons who did not use their grey matter in order to prevent the mess we are now in."

Caprcia finally found her voice. "Oh this is rich!

Now we're to blame for this debacle ?!

May I remind everyone that this Number One" she pointed an accusing finger at the man in-front of her "nuked the planet that we found them on; then tried to steal their ship in addition to trying to blow them up when we met them with the Galactica fleet!"

She turned back to Cavil. " Even if you had not instigated the hostilities you such as hell contributed to them!"

"We can point fingers all day long; but that does not change the trouble we all are in," said Aaron in a troubled voice.

This caught everyone's attention.

Aaron Doral was known as the hothead of the cylons; he was over confident of his intelligence and strength and wholly believed the humans were so much less than the cylons.

For him to be worried...was something that could not be ignored.

"What have you found out?" asked Caprica.

Instead of answering; Aaron stood up and pressed a button on the transparent conference table. A large thin-screen slid out of the surface; he attached his e-pad to it.

Immediately; a video started playing showing the recent short battle between the Xavier and the heavy raiders.

"I wondered why our raiders could not hit the Xavier; thus I have been replaying the videos constantly. Then I realized that the collective aim of the raiders were true and on target...they were just blocked by something...a forcefield."

He turned to see the other 6 cylons giving him stunned ; disbelieving looks.

"That's not possible," finally said Caprica.

Cavil laughed drily."Aaron...old friend; this is not the time for jokes..."

"Do I look like I am laughing Cavil ?" cut in Aaron angrily "you better start paying attention! Look closely!"

He angrily pressed some more buttons which zoomed in on the Xavier and everyone could see clearly when a missile hit the front of the strange ship but seemed to impact an invisible barrier that flared briefly before the missile disintegrated.

"Dear God in heaven," muttered Six in shock.

"Now; do you understand?"" continued Aaron.

Cavil nodded; his face paler than usual; he looked at Six.

"If we increase the yield of our nukes by 50 percent; will that go through their shields?"

Six stared at him in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Caprica...I think that is a valid question" said Simon.

Six shook her head. " We should be trying to speak to them...not nuke them!"

D'anna sighed wearily. "We may have gone past speaking now."

"No, D'anna; we can still salvage this..." started Six.

"How?" cut in the Number Three " we're engaged them three times and each time we were the aggressor," she sighed wearily.

"Caprica; you were right all along; we should have been wary of their defences. The first two times we met them...they chose to flee and the third time; they warned us."

The Number Three looked at Cavil. "A warning we all chose to ignore and what did that cost us?

A whole basestar destroyed by one missile."

She waited for the words to sink in.

"We need to better our defences and our weapons; for I feel we're going to meet the Thirteenth Tribe very soon."

Everyone was nodding apart from Caprica and Leoben.

"So that's just it? We declare war on them?" asked a stunned Number Two " but...but they are our ancestors!"

"And so what?" asked Cavil with a sneer " It won't be the first time that children have rebelled against their parents!"

"That is not the point Cavil," attacked Caprica coldly "If we spoke to them; we might be able to explain that they should be helping us instead of the colonials."

"Oh really? Will that be before or after they blast you to smithereens?" responded Cavil with a sneer on his face.

The six found her right hand shaking uncontrollably; she really wanted to wipe that expression off the male cylon's face.

"Let's settle this with a vote," added Boomer quietly.

Caprica turned to the Number Eight. "A vote ? Is that all you can contribute to this important discussion."

The Number Eight looked at her for a few seconds; then looked away.

"Boomer is right for once," Six looked back at Cavil " let's vote now."

Six slumped back in her seat wearily as the other cylons gave their assent for an end to the discussion.

The voting process lasted about 8 minutes and the outcome was a 5 against 2.

The majority was in favour of heading back to the main base; upgrading their defences and starting a search for the Xavier.

The main objective: search; subdue or destroy.

"We are well and truly frakked," said Caprica to herself angrily as she watched each cylon leave the room. Her eyes lingered on Cavil who was talking with Simon O'neill as they left the room.

She went after them.

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"So; how's your research going?" asked Cavil.

Simon sighed. " Not too good; I'm no closer to finding out how cylons can reproduce as the humans do. I was hoping with the cylon-human hybrid I might have a chance at gaining more data for my research."

Cavil grimaced. "Urgh; the thought of reproducing that way is so...primitive.

However; I can understand its importance; but it looks like you're not as thrilled as I thought you would be with the presence of the...child."

The Number Five gave a sound of frustration. "I wanted her to get older...but I'm afraid she may be dying."

That stopped Cavil in his tracks. " Are you sure?"

"I don't know! Boomer is no closer to knowing what is wrong with it ! One moment it's well; the next it's unwell! I just want the child old enough so that I can have some mature organs for dissection!"

Cavil opened his mouth to say something.

"What the frak did you just say?" asked a cold calm voice behind the two male cylons. They both turned to see an expressionless Number six who had approached them without been heard.

They also noted the two gold centurions who were not far behind her.

Cavil cursed silently; when the meeting was over; he had ordered his to return to his chambers for more re-programming. He had not expected Caprica to keep hers around.

"I..." began Simon hesitantly.

"Shut it!" ordered Caprica harshly "Simon O'neil; this is your first and last warning," she slowly walked up to him " if you lay a finger on that child or if I even hear a whisper of a suspected vivisection of Hera...I will kill you so many times in so many ways that each download will significantly reduce your mental capacity and will thus leave you with just enough intelligence to eat; shit and sleep !

Is that understood?!"

Simon looked at the fire in her eyes; shut his mouth and nodded rapidly.

What he valued most was his intelligence and there was valid research that stated that continuous or repetitive painful downloads at very short intervals could affect one's sanity as well as destroy one's mental capacity.

He really did not want that theory tested on his model.

The Number Six glared at him for extra measure and included Cavil as well before leaving with her two centurions.

The Number One waited until she was finally gone; then turned to Simon who was sweating profusely.

"Be patient my friend...support me in my every endeavour and you will get your vivisection."

Simon looked at the insane cold light in Cavil's eyes. He had no idea who frightened him more but something told him that the Number One had more terrifying ways of harming him than Caprica could.

"I..." his throat suddenly dry; he nodded slowly.

"Good," said Cavil " now let's continue on our conversation. You were telling me the...child is ill?"

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Caprica was still furious as she walked away from the two male cylons; soon enough the anger was replaced by numbing fear and she found herself running for the medical bay where Hera was been kept. She ignored the sound of the metal feet behind her as the 2 gold centurions kept pace.

God forgive her if anything happened to that child

And God have mercy on anyone who harmed her; for she would surely hunt them down and kill them all.

Six reached the medical bay barely winded; a quick looked around revealed two other cylons models in the room. They were standing close to Hera's crib; the gentle rise and fall of child's chest showed she was peacefully asleep.

The fact that the cylons were D'anna and Boomer made her relax a little.

The Number Three looked at her anxious expression with some concern. "Six; are you alright ?"

Caprica turned to her centurions. "Wait outside and remain alert; let me know if anyone, cylon or centurion approaches."

"By your command." Said the first gold robot before the two nodded and walked out to assume sentry positions.

"What's going on?" asked D'anna; she had stood up and walked towards Six.

Her fellow cylon glared at her for several moments. "You voted against Leoben and I."

D'anna sighed. "Is that why you're so upset and posting guards at the entrance to the medical bay?"

"How concerned are you about Hera? Will you protect her with your life?" continued Caprica.

Boomer walked up and stood beside D'anna.

"Six; now you're beginning to worry me; what is going on?"

Caprica watched her for a while; obviously gauging how much to tell her. D'anna wisely kept silent; waiting for the Six to make up her mind.

"I just overhead Simon and Cavil speaking. Simon is very interested in performing a vivisection on Hera."

Boomer gasped in shock while D'anna went very pale.

Six kept watching them. " So; you didn't know."

D'anna went from pale to furious red. "You think that we...that I would condone such a thing on a child that we have waited for so long?! How dare you?!"

Caprica gave a sigh of relief as she held up a placating hand. " I had to be sure...you have no idea how close I came to ordering one of the centurions to tear Simon's head off...even if they have directives to prevent them from attacking us."

As all cylons knew; the centurions had telencephalic implants that annulled their higher cognitive functions ; prevented full self-awareness and had a directive that prevented them from attacking the humanoid cylons.

D'anna nodded then glanced at Boomer. "Forgive me for asking this; but were you even remotely aware of this ?"

The Eight hesitated before answering. "I know Cavil hates the fact that...Hera is aboard the basestar but I never...never thought he would be a party to such...maybe it's just Simon's idea..."

"Boomer dear; you cannot be that stupid," cut in Six impatiently "Cavil did not protest; he almost sounded and looked gleeful at the very idea!"

The Eight glared at Six. "I am not privy to everything Cavil does; we are not even that close!"

Six raised an eyebrow. " You could have fooled me."

D'anna watched the two female cylons for a few moments. " Sisters; before you go to war with each other...did any of you notice anything odd about the centurions that came in with Cavil ?"

Caprica turned a puzzled look on her. " Like what?"

"Their red lights were staring straight ahead; I'm sure Cavil has tampered with their implants."

Boomer's face darkened. " In what way ...for what purpose ?"

D'anna and Caprica shared a knowing look.

The centurions could not kill the cylons but if given an explicit order backed by a majority vote among the 7 cylon models; then the centurions would carry out the kill order.

"What if Cavil has found a way of bypassing the 'anti-kill directive' ?" asked Six.

The Eight shook her head. " He wouldn't... he would never...he is not capable of such!"

Caprica sighed bitterly. "Honey; you have no idea what a mad man is truly capable of."

Before Boomer could reply; a sound made them turn round to see a one of the gold centurions.

"What's wrong?" asked Six immediately.

"You wished to be informed of any movements...Dr Baltar is about to be moved to a different cell; we just spoke to 4 centurions that passed by the medical bay."

Six stared at him for several seconds. "On whose orders ?"

The gold centurion called the name she was dreading to hear.

"On the orders of The One, Cavil."

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Baltar stumbled as he tried to keep up with the pace of the 4 grey centurions around him. He had been awakened suddenly and told to leave the cell.

For one moment he was sure he was about to be tortured again; then after taking several steps he was sure he was about to be executed.

One thing was sure; the centurions were not telling him anything despite his half-hearted questions.

Gods above; he was tired. His white prison clothes hung on him; barely hiding his absurdly thin frame.

Eating was a chore and he had no idea why he even tried taking any food or drink. He; more than anyone else knew he deserved to die.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking; the centurions stopped abruptly and he walked into the broad back of the centurion in-front of him.

"S...sorry," hastily apologized the former President of the 12 Colonies.

The centurion made no indication it heard him. It pointed to a cell which looked exactly like the last one Baltar had been in.

The only difference was that there was a second cell beside his but the occupant was lying on a bed with a blanket over his or her head.

Now; that began to prick Baltar's sleeping curiosity.

He stood there staring at the second cell until one of the centurions pushed him gently towards the empty cell.

"O...Of course; I'll get in," said the doctor as he walked into his new cell.

His guard locked him in then quickly walked away. Baltar watched them go then turned to look into the other cell only to find himself staring at the occupant who had walked up to the cell bars without the doctor hearing a sound.

The man was in his mid thirties; dark brown skin and grey eyes. Height roughly 5'9 or 6 feet; slim with jet black hair in dreadlocks. He also wore white prison clothes like Baltar.

What caught most of the scientist's attention were his eyes.

This man had been through Hades and more; but was still standing. Something told Baltar this man was not a cylon.

"And who might you be ?" asked the man in a slow chilling drawl; his face blank.

Baltar swallowed nervously. "Er...Dr Gaius Baltar...scientist; home planet Caprica."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" his tone indicated he did not believe a single word.

"A...and you are?" asked Baltar hesitantly.

The other prisoner stared at him for several moments. "I must admit; this is new...I wonder if I should play along or just tell you to go frak yourself."

The scientist found himself retreating from the quiet vehemence in the other man's voice.

"I...I just wanted to know who you were...I did introduce myself," explained Baltar in a weak voice.

A chilling laugh from the other man had Gaius almost shaking in fear.

As abruptly as it started it stopped as the man stared at the scientist as if seeing into his very soul.

"Okay...if that's the way you want to play it.

I'm Senior Lieutenant Daniel Novacek a.k.a Bulldog; of the Gemenon Colony. I have been a POW for the past 8 years."

Baltar felt his lower jaw drop. "Oh dear Gods in heaven."

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The Xavier, Medical bay...

Logan tried to keep his face calm as Q Junior and Laura hesitantly explained how they ended up on the Galactica. He could not help but glare at Q Junior when he heard how the boy meekly surrendered his weapons and tricorder.

Then he bit his lower lip from swearing when he heard how they were tricked into the airlock; he knew worse was to come when Q Junior's voice faltered and stopped.

"What happened in the airlock Q?"

The two teens looked at each other. Then Q Junior took a deep breath and turned back to the captain.

"The XO accused us of been cylons; he didn't believe us...and blew the airlock."

Dead silence followed the teenager's words.

It took several moments as Wolverine fought the temptation to pop his claws; if this was what Jean saw when they were on that flight deck then she deserved a medal for not annihilating the colonials who had been present.

"Q; tell us what happened next," encouraged Jean in a calming voice.

He nodded and explained how he phased through the door and the aftermath which resulted in Anders opening the airlock door.

"Laura was able to get out of the airlock...but due to the decompression injuries she passed out...I made sure no one came near her while she slept."

Logan was still silent for a while before trusting himself to speak.

"You...were shot; where did the bullets go?"

Q frowned. " Now that you mentioned it..." he put his right hand into his chest and withdrew 3 smashed up bullets.

Jean held out her hand and the boy handed them to her. She stared at them; then looked at Q Junior.

"Did it hurt?"

He shook his head. "No; which brings me to the other thing I need to test...my holo-emitter. If I was strictly a hologram I should not have been able to phase through the airlock door. I don't think I really need it to move around."

Laura stared at him in shock. " You mean...you weren't sure of that phasing-through-walls thing working ?"

Q Junior's face reddened. " I didn't really have a choice...I had to try something."

"Which you did...and it worked," said Logan grudgingly "but we're not helping that group of idiots!"

Jean turned to him. " Logan; I know how upset you are but we really need to think this through..."

"They put two children in an airlock Jean!" cut in Logan "that to me is tantamount to attempted murder! If not for the mutant abilities of Q Junior and Laura this could have been a different story entirely!"

The doctor took a deep breath; she could see and feel his anger and he was beyond livid. She knew what he was going through for part of her still wanted to go back and find Saul Tigh and slowly throttle the life out of him.

But that would be the wrong thing to do; and abandoning them to their fate was also just as wrong.

"Logan," she began slowly " they have children on those ships."

He and the others turned to look at her.

"Yes...when I used the CMS to look for Laura and Q...I felt a lot of young, frightened minds.

Their parents may not be saints; but leaving them to the mercies of the cylons will make us all murderers as well."

Silence followed her words.

"We know what and who is out there; we can no longer hide behind ignorance as we first did when Q Junior showed us the surveillance of them fleeing."

Logan grimaced. Almost a month ago; he had given the order stating they should stay away from the two fighting factions. Then they had no idea who they were...but now they knew.

Jean looked at Laura, Logan and Q Junior. " At the age of 12 years I attended the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. I quickly learnt that the best goal in one's existence was to treasure life and help others less fortunate than me...even if they hated me for what I was...a mutant.

I lost sight of that goal in 2006 and went down a very dark path," she paused.

"I know we all have been through a rather rough time recently...so I ask you all to please search within yourselves for the right decision.

For me...I want to go back and help; because I feel that doing this...will help me atone for the 300 people I killed in 2006."

Logan felt shame and guilt as he saw the doctor's eyes wet eyes. She was blinking furiously.

He looked around to see Laura glaring at him. He had no trouble interpreting her expression.

Congratulations dufus for making Jean cry!

"Jean...I understand...but the colonials are going to be very hard to work with," said Logan.

The telepath nodded her head and looked at young teen girl beside her. "Laura; what do you think? You were hurt most by them...you get to vote as well."

Nothing was said for a while. " I also have list of names a mile long...guess this would be a good time to start a clean slate," said the girl wisely.

Logan looked at her in surprise. Hearing such words of wisdom from a girl of her age made him feel something he could barely remember...pride.

She's definitely my kid.

"And Q Junior; how do you honestly feel about helping them now...even if this was your idea in the first place ?" asked Logan.

The boy looked at him in surprise. " I...I'm still kinda angry at them...and I now somehow understand why the other Q are reluctant to help them..."

Logan snorted. No surprise there.

"...but Jean is right...my past history has not been that...pristine...it's a good opportunity for me to start anew as well."

"Even if you remain as a hologram for the rest of your life?" asked Laura unexpectedly.

Q Junior looked at her for a long time. "Yeah...even if that is the price to pay," he said with firm determination.

Logan looked at the boy for several moments; Q turned to him.

"What of you sir ?"

Wolverine was silent as he weighed everything that had happened since they woke up in this time and place.

Life had a funny way of throwing one a curve ball but that did not mean he had to like it.

"I have listened to each one of you and...believe me when I say I understand where you're coming from.

But...I do not trust these colonials...I do not want to go back...but in this case the majority carries the vote."

The three people before him released sighs of relief.

"However bear in mind; we have to be extra careful and we must never let them take control of the Xavier; is that clear?"

Q Junior nodded rapidly. "Crystal sir."

Logan took a deep breath. "Okay...I can't believe we're really doing this...but Q you are going to have to tell us everything you know about the colonials and cylons."

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The Galactica, Medical Bay...

Once they left the debriefing rooms; Sharon felt her anxiety levels increase.

As their small subdued group walked to the medical bay she found herself fidgeting more and more. It worsened when the constantly harassed medical staff took Hotdog and Lee Adama away and left the other 4 colonial pilots to wait in a small cubicle with two small wooden benches.

"Sharon; what's wrong?" asked Helo with a combination of concern and grief on his face. Sharon lifted a hand to stroke his right cheek.

She wished she could erase the worry on his face; but only one thing could do that. The return of their daughter.

Suddenly she knew what she had to do.

"Athena ; whatever the frak you're thinking of doing; don't !" ordered Starbuck who was sitting beside her husband opposite Helo and Sharon.

The cylon glared at her. " What now? Have you also developed Dr Grey's abilities ?!"

Kara shook her head. " I know that expression Sharon; for I have seen it many a time staring back at me whenever I thought up a suicide stunt!"

"Girls; keep your voices down," pleaded Anders urgently.

His wife ignored him. " I know what you are thinking...a bullet to the brain and up you go to the resurrection ship in order to find Hera ?"

Helo gasped in alarm; Sharon glanced at him before leaning closer to Kara.

"And what if that is what I'm thinking about ? Who are you to stop me?!"

"First of all Athena," hissed Kara " let's explain the frakked up flaws of your oh-so brilliant plan! Do you have any idea where a nearby resurrection ship may be?"

Sharon hesitated for several heartbeats before answering. "No."

"So; the nearest one could be out of range; is that correct?!" demanded Kara.

The female cylon maintained eye contact with the pilot as her heart sank. "Yes."

"Now; do I have to paint a frakking picture to explain that you might die for real if you commit suicide ? Thus blowing any real chance of us rescuing your daughter!"

Sharon looked away as the wetness in her eyes threatened to spill. She did not hear when Kara told her husband to move out of the way so that she could sit directly opposite Sharon.

"Listen...I swore that I would help you find Hera..."began Kara softly.

"How..." wailed Sharon softly "in the name of the Gods; tell me how!?"

Kara sighed wearily and looked at the floor before taking Sharon's hand. "I...I don't know...maybe the Xavier could help...if they come back."

Anders and Helo exchanged a worried look.

Kara caught the look between the two men; she had been in the fighter bay when her husband and Ensign Rogers appeared with the two children. She had noticed the girl's torn jeans and obviously large viper flight jacket with a sinking feeling in her chest that had changed to numbing fear when the guns and knives turned to face the colonials on the deck.

The livid look on Dr Grey's face had almost made her crap in her pants.

"Now that we're here; will you two tell us what the frak caused the Admiral to send an apology to the Xavier ?"

The two men looked at each other again.

"It's a long story...,"started Anders slowly.

Sharon and Kara looked at each other with mounting concern.

"Start from the beginning," said Sharon in a worried voice.

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Hi everyone; thanks so much for you reviews. It's really helping me a lot. Sorry this one is not as long as the others but I will increase the words as the story goes on.

Hope you like the new character I added in; wish me luck as I try to write about each of them ! Arghhh!

Please read and enjoy !