FROZEN FLAMES

The room was cold. Very cold: the bone-jarring chill of deep space.

In the crepuscular light, Sharon struggled to steady herself, as she almost stumbled upon an overturned shelving unit. Icy air filled her lungs as she gasped at the scene before her.

The woman who hated her was kneeling in the center of the wasted room, watching her. What's going on here! Why did she want me to come here, and why now? Sharon thought, considering the silent orange apparition with mixed feelings.

Sharon's voice was hard as she went towards Cally, demanding to know if they were venting oxygen into space. She noticed the other woman flinch as she approached.

The specialist quickly pulled herself together, didn't answer and nodded, her hands twisting an indefinable piece of cloth or paper.

"So you did come…", she said, and after a pause, added, "…and where is the ammo clip, this time?" with the same calm tone she used in another life and another world, just like when she told Chief, "I think 312 has weird gimbals, that might be the explanation."

"We're in the middle of a decompression and you want to have a conversation about something that happened a month ago?" Sharon's voice was incredulous as she yanked Cally to her feet.

The object Cally had been holding fell to the floor as Sharon grabbed her arms to pull her up. Now Sharon could see it was a torn photograph - which as it had landed right side revealed a frozen smiling image of her own face - no, not hers.

The small woman didn't seem to notice or be bothered that she had lost it, and instead, barked at Sharon, sarcastically, "You frakked-up to..." - she managed to calm down - "I was trapped for several hours in an airlock as it lost atmosphere into the void, remember, you really think I would just stand here if it happened again!"

Disconcerted, Sharon stared down at the crumpled scrap of the photograph which had come to rest on the hard floor. An image from a time now lost forever.

When the pain from the memories the piece of paper conjured up became too much to bear, Sharon was glad to escape and face the current situation, even if she shared it with Cally.

"I'm well aware of your time in that airlock," Sharon said, her voice rising ever so slightly. "I was the one who saved you, remember?"

"I guess Starbuck and Apollo were there for window dressing," Cally muttered.

"Specialist, tell me what the frak is going on here."

... and also tell me why you wanted me to come here, and what this picture means, Sharon thought, examining it once more, as if she was attracted by the incomplete photograph.

God, she didn't lie, the room isn't venting, Sharon realized when she discovered that the image hadn't moved since Cally let it fall.

If we aren't losing atmosphere, then... "Why is it so frakking cold here? What have you done, Cally?"

The other woman was silent for a moment. "What makes you think I've done anything?" Cally asked, gaze narrowing.

Don't you look at me like that, Sharon thought, trying to find out what was hiding behind the face of her ex- ... yes, that's what she was , be honest with yourself, say it ...friend, now her nemesis. So what happened, what in God's name would make you question your position, Cally?

"It's getting ice cold, Cally," Sharon said. "You're hiding in here with a picture of Boomer. Did you decide to kill another Cylon?"

The specialist shivered and shook her head. "No", she answered, and then added something, whispering, so that Sharon could only understand "... I lied ..."

"Lied about what?" Sharon shook Cally, trying to get her to focus. "You'd better start explaining before we freeze."

"We won't. I turned the life support systems back on-line after I asked for you. I wanted everything to end but couldn't do it", Cally whimpered.

"You killed her too, so I heard", she said further, accusatory, taking a glance at Sharon's more-than-Sister.

"I did what I did to protect my child," Sharon said. "What's your excuse?"

"She stole... ", Cally started, seeming at first curiously relieved, then, suddenly, provocative: "Have you ever been scared, Cylon? I've said this before; we don't get a second chance. Oh frak... and the Chief..., I kept it inside me, and all this for what? She wasn't even... "

Sharon shook her head in frustration at Cally's obvious goading. She turned to leave the hangar bay, which was getting warmer by the second.

Something made her change her mind: Sharon had seen this haunted look on the face of the strange and cold woman she only met once and who questioned her on the day Kara destroyed the old Raider in the landing bay of the other Battlestar. Hera was beginning to kick inside her belly, and Sharon was tired, so she explained docilely what she knew about these Cylon legends, although she noted the terrible expression that seemed to hint at even more terrible secrets.

Sharon sighed, and turned back again to face Cally who hadn't moved. No, she was wrong, because the specialist once more held the fragmented photograph in her hands.

"Cally, let's finish this: who do you think you are kidding? You hate Cylons and would be happy if they were all killed, including me, and now you want me to believe that you are actually feeling sorry or guilty?"

That's funny, change only a few words and you get exactly how I felt, after my second return from Caprica, Sharon realized, sweat drops starting to cover her forehead.

"You don't understand these things..." Cally replied, forgetting to add some nice toastery epithets. The strange relief was back in her tone, and Sharon guessed that this time Galen's wife would be willing to say more - at last.

"What don't I understand?" Sharon asked. "What is it that you can explain to me?"

"Maybe you are the wrong person" - Did I really hear her saying this word? Sharon wondered - "…even though you're identical... physically, I mean... ", Cally answered, pausing before saying "…of course you don't get it".

She emitted a sound, something between a laugh and a sob, and added "You think I wanted all this? Some of her frakking Cylon blood even landed on my face!"

"You know, these things happen when you put a bullet in someone's gut at close range! And from a greater distance it's not much prettier... four holes in her white vest... and those awful gasps... "What did you expect? Just spit it out, Cally!"

Sharon shouted out those last words, tired because it was near midnight, and angry because despite of what she hoped for, Cally kept speaking in riddles.

Moreover, the specialist seemed to be more mesmerized by Sharon's holstered sidearm than ready to explain herself.

"Specialist, I swear, I'll get out of this place, and I won't turn back. So what? You want to cry on my Cylon shoulder? Do you want to hear me say it doesn't matter that you murdered Boomer in cold blood? And I thought you were so proud of that! Is this no longer the case?"

"I... don't want to say it", Cally answered with hesitation. "I just can't. But a lot's happened. In everyone's life. That's what she told me, on New-Caprica. It's like I had another... yes, life, before. I wasn't like this."

Oh frak."Cally", Sharon started, surprised herself by the softness of her voice, "I remember".

"I didn't think I could be capable of all this rage and violence", Cally continued, encouraged by the Cylon's reaction, and twisting her hands, thus damaging the photograph even more.

"Biting off the ear of that frakker who wanted to rape me ..."

The specialist studied Sharon for a brief moment, and then added, speaking carefully, "That pig from the Pegasus deserved what Galen did to him".

Sharon exhaled deeply and swallowed several times, her vision blurred by awful memories, her eyes on fire, sweat flowing into them.

When she recovered somewhat, she found herself only able to articulate "Go on."

Cally made a breathing sound. "When all this began, and Galactica was going to execute the first jump, I was sitting on that crate, trying not to puke my guts out, and realized that I'd never go to dental school. You destroyed everything."

No. She/I was still human, then. All her/my projects for the future also vanished in atomic clouds of smoke.

Yes. I/she was on Caprica, an inexperienced Eight being briefed for a seduction mission involving a dangerous stranded human.

"The fire in the flight pod", the small woman went on, "that frakking fire took a good... friend". Cally cleared her throat.

Her right hand was squeezing her left sleeve, as if she wanted to rip off the yellow stripe from her working uniform.

I won't say that I'm sorry. Certainly not, Sharon tried to persuade herself. "Cally, I ..."

"You remember, is that what you want to tell me again?" the specialist said, suddenly aggressive again. "Your fubar toaster-buddies did all this! And then on Kobol... "

Galen's wife had put the picture, which was, as Sharon guessed, the real center of this discussion, in one of the multiple pockets of her orange suit.

The Eight interrupted Cally: "Look. You're not the only one who suffered. Ok, you went through a lot on Kobol and New-Caprica but I really want to know the reason of my presence here. I found a cryptic message, which brought me to this maintenance room. And then I saw you, holding the photograph of the Cylon you shot, apparently wanting to vent the air from the entire hangar deck, killing yourself and taking me with you in the process."

"Where did you find this image?" Sharon asked, intrigued.

Surprisingly, Cally chose to answer the question. "Figurski. I was still in the brig when Sharon's belongings were distributed. That idiot thought it would make a nice souvenir, since I was also in the photo."

And this explains its condition, Sharon completed.

"Tell me the rest, Cally. Now!"

"What more do you want?" The specialist was very pale. She just stood there, staring at Sharon while she clenched her teeth together.

Then the Cylon heard light noises, the sort of which she never wanted to listen to again: the same sounds she had made when she had unsuccessfully tried to hide that she was crying.

And Sharon realized that she was tormenting the young woman.

"Cally ...Cally? It's okay." Sharon put her empty hands in front of her, fingers spread. She took two steps back. Then she sat down, her legs crossed, on the metallic floor.

The upside-down turned shelf which stopped her when she entered the room was right behind her – the specialist must have caused this chaos while in destructive fury.

Keep - what's left of - your secrets. Sharon laid her hands down on her thighs. It's too painful.

She raised her head, looking at the two shimmering spots on Cally's face.

The small woman pressed her back against the opposite wall of the room and let her body slowly sink down.

She touched a chest-pocket, but then changed her mind and lowered her right hand again.

After a while, she said: "Since my little trip in the void with my husband, I occasionally have these troubles with my eyes. It's nothing more."

Sharon remained quiet.

"She came back, you know. She was already at the door, but she came back. Held me in her arms while I was trying to scratch her face. Told me that she would try something."

Sharon wondered what this was about, until she understood. She forgave you, Cally. And now, will she forgive me?

"Nothing has changed. I still hate you. All of you", the specialist continued.

"Sure", Sharon replied, speaking for the first time since they were sitting face to face.

They kept watching each other. Distant noises became progressively perceptible in this silence as ships, probably Raptors on a reconnaissance mission, returned to the Battlestar.

The landing bay was nearby, so Cally's trained ear couldn't fail to notice the frakked arrival of one of the vessels.

Even though no alarm was set off, meaning no serious damage had occurred, the specialist still frowned. She seemed to be concentrating intensely and her face was reddening.

The heart of the Cylon was pounding, as she waited, feeling the tension, and ready for anything.

"Chief really believed it was the gimbals, didn't he?" Cally said finally.

"Yeah", Sharon answered, when she could speak again. And Boomer added: Only the first few times. Afterwards it didn't matter if they were faulty or not. But it was useful in the beginning.

The plates under them were vibrating, and the walls cracked as the panels reacted to the recent temperature changes. This reinforced steel cocoon protected them from the deadly space outside.

Above them, the patrol ships completed their landings, and then there were no more sounds to be heard. There was something weird with the lighting, some inexplicable glow in the air.

And time itself seemed to expand, stretching into eternity, around the two women who were facing each other: The Cylon and the Human.

- END -