Chapter 11

Chapter's warning: Mature content.

Helena started to understand a bit more now of the relationship between Laura and Bill, restrained because of their respective duties, yet, unexpectedly released in the blissful summer on that new planet. She was not president anymore and she felt free. Helena could understand how these people running away for their safety needed to live and breathe. She could not imagine how much courage it would have taken to be on duty for so long without a break. Helena had been on duty for over a year now working on this document. She was not at war. Beyond the ridges of the mountains, away from their sheltered camp, wars and genocides were taking place in Africa. Displaced populations, starving children, raped and abused girls and women were common on this land. She felt unworthy of the protection she was receiving for her status: an educated white woman scientist on an UNESCO and UN mission. She was sheltered behind barbed wire, electrical fences and armed UN guards. She knew they were protecting not only the secrecy of the project, but the staff and scientists also, as the whole region was unstable. She was aware of her privileged status and appreciated how Laura relinquished her presidential status to become again a normal citizen. It would have been easy for her to use that to her benefit and she didn't. Laura just wanted to live and be happy. But wasn't it what most humans were looking for anyway? A place to live, to love and build a life.

"Bill drank more and we danced a little with the others. He kept on looking at me as I was taking with old members of the Quorum, as if he was still wondering about what had happened earlier by the lake. This time he was the one who asked: 'Show me where you live'. It was late; people were starting to leave; others were sleeping their alcohol off directly on the ground. Few others were still dancing, as the night progressed. We had not partied like this ever since the destruction of the colonies. Everyone seemed to enjoy the well-deserved break. We walked away together and I gave him a tour of my tent and its simple accommodations. I retrieved the last join I had made. We smoked it with delight and, when our legs felt weak, we lay down on the sand bags behind my tent and looked at the clear night sky. We smoke some more and Bill sang a little, as I fought hard to suppress my giggles at his out of tune voice. He confessed that so many people wanted to leave the ships leaving them un-manned with skeleton crews, but I reminded him how hard it had been on all of us all of these months without feeling real ground under our feet. I tried to convince him that it was important to live in the moment. So many things could happen, but really if this was where we would end up staying and if the cylons were never coming back, then we really should embrace that new chance at life. I snuggled in his arms and he pulled me close to him so that I could rest my head on his shoulder. We must have drifted to sleep at some point, with alcohol and smoke still in our bodies, lying in each other's arms. When the night air got too cold, I got up and turned off the lantern and grabbed two blankets out of my tent. When I came back, I found him watching me intensely. Looking up in the sky, I showed him the little spot of light making its way across the sky. 'Each night, when the sky is clear like now, I come out and look at the Galactica making its way in the sky. I think about you.' It was late in the night and everything was silent. His only response to my confession was to tighten his arms around me. 'I want to live, Bill. I want to get up in the morning and not worry about what might happen in the afternoon.' I leaned over and started to kiss the skin of his neck, enjoying his warmth and his scent. He turned to look at me. 'Do you really want this, Laura?' I just could reply. 'I just want to be a woman. When was the last time I was just a woman and not the president or even the secretary of education? We have to live, Bill, those are moments that might never happen again. You and I have to live now before it is too late. Anything can happen; you can get killed up there. I can get killed down here. The cylons can come back and then what? Are we going to spend the rest of our lives regretting what might not have happened on this night?' He looked at me for a long moment, thinking over my words. Then he answered 'I don't do regret, Laura', then he gently pulled me over him and kissed me with longing and determination. It was sweet, soft and soon turned out passionate, when our souls who had been waiting so long for one another finally joined, unrestrained by duty and obligations. Most, after partying, had retreated in their tents. We heard screaming far in the background, I thought I recognized Lee's voice, but could not be sure. We continued to kiss and hold each other, our hearts pounding, his hands caressing my skin under my clothes, my body longing for his, and trembling with desire. I unbuttoned his uniform with shaking hands, yearning to feel his skin under my hands. I wanted this so much. In the darkness, under the blessing of the stars, we slowly undressed and made love. It had been so long since I indulged in the physical bliss of sharing love with another soul. I enjoyed every touch of his fingers, every kiss of his mouth, as he sensually explored my body. I enjoyed his scent and the taste of his skin under my lips, the roughness of his skin under my hands. It was slow and tender. My body was humming with pleasure. I must have screamed, because he shushed me by kissing me some more. Then he called my name, just as loud... It was just wonderful. I cried of joy and he kissed my tears away. We dressed and stayed under the blankets until the first rays of the sun lighted the horizon with pale lavender light. He slept a little. I did not. I looked at his face, memorizing the moment, memorizing every irregularity of his skin, every wrinkle, every bump and crease, memorizing the sensations of my sated body, the heat of his, his scent, his little sleepy moans, until the sun made its full appearance and the sounds of people rising woke him up. I really was not hungry for breakfast as we make our way back to the center of town. I was cold, mostly from the lack of sleep and the hangover, and kept on wrapping myself in my light long sleeve red shirt. Bill, who had been worried about chief Tyrol's request to live on the planet, came to find him. He was tired and we had discussed Tyrol over our night conversation. Bill decided to let him go and live his life with his wife and their soon to be baby. An excited Kara then came over and told us she was getting married and invited us to join the wedding by the river estuary. So we walked there to the small gathering. She asked Bill to give her away, as he always had been a father figure to her. She was marrying Sam, the once pyramid player who had turned into the resistance against the cylon on Caprica and who she went to rescue later. It was a small and improvised ceremony with one of the only priest we had left, after I lost my dear Elosha. Bill walked her away and went back to stand by my side. When they pronounced their vows, he looked at me and took my hand and we stayed looking at each other eyes. Despite our fatigue and hangover, we were deeply happy. But time was running and soon Bill had to leave. I did not know how long he would stay before coming back down planet side. Baltar did not like having him around; Bill represented a threat to him. It would likely be weeks before he would come again, although I suspected that Bill would find excuses to find me. When the crowd dispersed after the wedding, we walked hand in hand back to the raptor-landing site. Before reaching the raptor, we stopped behind a tent and Bill slowly ran his hands through my hair, caressed my face and we embraced tightly, kissing intensely until we both grasped for air. When we reached the raptor, we said goodbye, our eyes kissing where our bodies would not want to betray us in front of other people standing by. I waved goodbye to him and minutes later the raptor took off. Back in my tent, I finally slept, reliving those moments with wonder and deep joy."

Helena closed her laptop, tears streaming on her face. Laura had loved deeply. Helena wished she ever could have felt the same way. She had been too busy for relationships, always running around the world decrypting some text, having quick affairs, which did not last long. She knew that such relationship was running deeply. She knew this couple was bond by invisible ties, beyond space and time. Soul mates.

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