Here is Chapter 37. Sorry for the delay. I got a nasty bout of the flu and was completely out of commission for almost a week. This is the busiest time of the year for me and until our final exams in May, I will have significantly less time to devote to writing. Still i can assure you, I will continue with this story and it will pick up as soon as our exams are over.
Thank you for all of those who have taken the time to review.
Legal disclaimer, I do not own BSG or any of the characters from the show. This story is not meant for commercialization, only for the fun and practice of writing within a known and explored universe.
Chapter 37
In the village, more people came out in order to meet with Helena, when she retraced her step back. She got to observe again the amazing genetic diversity of this population. There was so much to do and so many questions to ask. She was truly excited by the enormous amount of information this population would yield. She also knew that it would take a considerable amount of time to interview the population, document all of their writings and do some genetic studies. This village was only Caprica and there were twelve other villages to explore. This was indeed overwhelming. While she wanted very much to continue exploring and talk to the people of the village, Helena was also aware that she was gone from the base camp for over an hour and the team would probably be worried. She needed to gain the trust of Elosha and intuitively she felt that she should not push her. Their work depended on the cooperation of these tribes. She told Elosha they needed to go back and both women made their way back out of the caves. As soon as they approached the cave exit, they heard the team calling her. Takashi was walking up the cliff with the other team members, holding in his hand the bracelet Helena dropped by the entrance.
"I'm here" she called back.
"Where were you?" he said, "You disappeared for over an hour." He spoke softly, genuinely worried. Helena smiled at him.
"Elosha took me inside the cave to visit the village. It took a little bit too long, so I decided to come back." They watched as Elosha made her way down the cliff into the valley and stayed a few feet behind. Takashi took Helena's hand and gently put the bracelet back around her wrist, looking in her eyes.
"This got me worried," he whispered pointing to the bracelet.
"I didn't know where she was taking me. Just in case, I needed you to know where I went."
He smiled back, "good thinking," and he pulled his arm gently around her shoulder as they made their way downhill. Takashi could tell that Helena wanted to talk with him, but for Elosha's sake, Helena did not want to disclose just yet how she had seen a cylon robotic head. Without doubt this would create uproar and she wanted to tell the team first how it was clear that Elosha and her people were unaware that some cylons had a biological form. Well maybe unaware, or maybe in denial, Helena was not sure. As they quietly walked back to the camp, Helena laced her arm around Takashi's waist and leaned into him.
She whispered close to his ear: "We need to have a group meeting after Elosha and Sharon are gone. All of us. Maybe late at night, what do you think?"
He turned and looked at her, surprised, trying to read in her eyes what she wanted to say.
"It's important," she continued. He nodded silently.
As promised they shared a lunch and the team met with Elosha and Sharon to decide on a plan of action. They first asked for permission to take DNA samples, cheek swabs, of the village population and Evelyne was very excited at the prospect, even if it would take a while to get all of these processed. Then Helena asked to take pictures of the writings on the walls and to check other possible sources of information. In return the team would release some of Laura's diary to the population. Elosha agreed to look at the original text and verify the translation. Helena was hoping that with her help she would be able to decipher the last book, which remained mysterious and clearly written in a different language. At the end of the afternoon, Elosha and Sharon retreated to the caves and the group was left alone. When the night came, the group met finally around the campfire.
"It was only a couple of days, and I was recovering well from the surgery. I was still tired, but the pain was subsiding. I made a conscious effort to remain seated with some walking breaks to get the blood flowing. Once in a while, I got up and stretched, when sitting became too uncomfortable. This morning, we drew the five judges' names for Baltar's tribunal from the pool of all the ships' captains in front of the press and live on the wireless. The last piece of paper that was drawn bore the name of William Adama. I almost choked on his name, when I opened the folded paper to read it. I selfishly thought first that we would not be able to see each other privately during the duration of the trial. Any report, or even any hint, of a relationship between us would undeniably discredit both of us, and benefit Baltar. His lawyer would likely exploit any information such as this one to the defense's benefit. Certainly we could talk and have our working meetings, but I knew we would not -could not- entertain anything more. What was I thinking anyway? We do not have a relationship! We cannot have one. We are way to busy keeping this fleet together to be involved in each other. He'd be a judge and I'd be a witness. This was putting another wall between us. His personal bond with me could not influence his decision. I knew that Bill had a very high level of integrity. I also knew he would not let his judgment get clouded by any personal feelings, and he would decide based on the defense and prosecution cases. Still, he hated Baltar as much as me. For Gods sake, he was the one who once proposed to eliminate Baltar. After the drawing, and once the journalists were gone, I retired in my private room and lay down for an hour on my bed, emotionally and physically exhausted. I promised Dr. Cottle to take it easy the first week and to take frequents breaks. I had put a show of smiles for the press and my stitches were still hurting. I had a dull pain in my lower abdomen, which was not unexpected and easy to deal with. Still the constant strain was draining. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. This was going to be hard. The prospect of not being able to talk with Bill about the trial for the duration was overwhelming. I needed to be able to share ideas with a friend, who would understand. I had nobody, but him. Baltar's trial would undoubtedly unleash frustrations at the all of the memories of New Caprica. I made the firm resolve not to let my emotions take over."
"We were facing now a very serious crisis, as a bomb exploded in the raptor transporting Baltar's lawyer. Alan Hughes was killed on impact. This was an act of terrorism and, just as Zarek predicted weeks ago, we had a very difficult situation to deal with. Knowing that we had a terrorist among us was unsettling. I immediately put the government on its highest level of alert. Dr. Baltar was very much hated among all of those who had been on New Caprica and experienced the cylon occupation. It was not at all surprising that some would want to kill him or his defense lawyer. We put a call throughout the fleet for lawyers and for anyone with information regarding this terrorist act. Admiral Adama, Colonel Tigh, Lieutenant Gaeta came over Colonial One to give a press conference with me about the bombing. Members of the government accompanied me. We wanted to send the message that this threat was taken seriously and that the military was reinforcing the security and investigating with all of its power. The press was in frenzy. I had questions about postponing the trial. My answers were firm. We certainly would not bow to terrorism. If we were changing any of our plans, then the terrorists would never stop. We had made the commitment to honor and respect our legal system and we were not going to let terrorists intimidate us. Bill was confident that his son, Lee, would be able to handle the investigation and security. We had no time to talk in person. In front of Tigh and Gaeta, he did address me only formally, purposely distant and cold. Our closest interaction was exchanging a long look full of worry. Bill was focused and determined to find those responsible for this act; he went back immediately to Galactica. I felt I was descending in a dark tunnel."
"After one day we found a new attorney for Baltar; Romo Lampkin used to be working in the public litigation office in Caprica City. He knew Bill's father, who was a very famous attorney, known for defending terrible criminals and who was very much hated for it. Bill told me how bad his relationship with his father was. Apparently Lampkin had learned law from the best, Joseph Adama, and thus I was not worried about his qualifications. However, his attitude, his demeanor gave me a sense of unease. I felt I was in presence of danger, overcome by a feeling of dread. Bill and I interviewed him on Colonial One. I am not sure really why he wanted the job… The man was plainly weird in a unsettling way. He was walking around with a crate containing his cat, which escaped and freaked me out, jumping on my desk. I was concerned about his ethics. There was something about him that disturbed me greatly and yet I could not put my finger on it. Of course, it was almost impossible to find anyone willing to represent Baltar and there were only a handful of lawyers left within the fleet. With Hughes killed, nobody was very interested in taking after him. Simply enough, it was dangerous. We would have to work with this attorney, whether we liked it or not. After Lampkin left, Bill and I were left alone in my office. I knew it would not be for long. I was almost impossible to have any privacy on Colonial One. Tory or one of the delegates would probably pop in at any time with files to sign or some request. I remained seated. His face was inscrutable. He got up slowly and walked around my desk. He bent and placed a soft kiss on my temple.
'Don't' I said in a low breath.
'How are you feeling?' he whispered low.
'Well. I am a bit tired and a bit uncomfortable. All things considered, it could be worse.' I whispered back. 'You? How are you?'
'I'm following your advice. I'm not trying to fight grief.'
'That's good' I said briefly taking his hand in mine and giving him an encouraging squeeze. 'Just embrace it, Bill, embrace and accept the grief. That is the least you can do for her.'
'I wish Lee would do the same. He is fighting it, and he is deeply distressed. I feel I do not know how to help him.' He continued.
'You know, Bill, Lee lost a part of himself with her. He is not whole now. He has to find himself back. It may take a while.'
'We don't have a while. He is an officer. He has to pull it together.'
'Don't push him, Bill. This is not something anyone else can control. He has to come to terms with his own grief.'
Bill sighed. I got up and the pain made me wince a little. I grabbed his arm for support.
'You're part of the jury now' I said a lump in my throat.
'I know…' he said looking into my eyes and sharing all those things we could not say aloud.
He gently pulled me into his embrace and held me for a minute, his face in my hair. Then silently, he released me.
'Take care of yourself, Laura.'
'You too, Bill.' And he left the room to go back to Galactica."
"Within a couple of days, the situation worsened considerably, if this was any possible. By sheer luck, Chief Tyrol discovered a bomb on a raptor that was transporting Romo Lampkin to Colonial One. Athena was piloting; Lee was assisting. If his ridiculous cat had not escaped, the bomb would have killed all three of them. But while chasing the cat in shuttle bay, they had discovered the bomb. This was not anymore an isolated incident. Bill called me on the phone immediately. He had assigned Lee to the security of Lampkin and still he had failed completely in detecting the bomb. Worse, he had put himself in danger. Bill and Lee had a fight. Lee's rebellion against his father was not new. I thought it stemmed from a deeply damaged self-esteem. The son never felt worthy enough of his father. Their relationship had always been difficult and strained, likely because of his father's divorce and repeated absences during his early childhood. Bill and I had talked about it a few times and he had shared his concerns with me. Bill told me how abusive Lee's mother had been and how guilty he felt about the damage his divorce had created. Right during the attacks on the colonies, the first day I met Lee, he already had expressed some anger at his father. Still I knew Lee would do the right thing. Inside he was deeply ethical. I believed in him. Later, he supported me going down on Kobol to find the tomb of Athena against the orders of his father. It split the fleet, and at the end I was right, finding the tomb and the road to earth. Of course, in the height of his grief, Lee was now searching himself. He was in a bad place. We all were, indeed. Bill expressed his fear that he could have lost his son. He was upset, angry and he was scared. I tried my best to calm him down. The bomb had not exploded. They found it just in time. They now had more information and a full investigation was underway. Lee was still alive."
"Heightened security measures were slowing everything down. We had to push the start of the trial by two weeks. I did not even want to think about how Cottle would be react to such news. Lee and his father requested an appointment later that week. I felt I was going crazy and losing my mind. Cancer and stress are not a good combination. There was a lot of work. The investigation of those terrorist attacks was of course the first priority. The press was on my back. I was uptight, and on top of that I had misplaced my glasses. I looked for them in every nook of Colonial One. Lee wanted to let Lampkin interrogating Caprica Six. Bill stated it had to be done in the interrogation room under surveillance. Both of them tensely argued that since Bill was sitting on the tribunal he should not witness the interrogation; finally Bill won the argument since he had to monitor the chief prosecutor's interviews and therefore should witness it. I could feel the tension between both father and son. Lee's anger towards his father was palpable. They both were my dear friends. I esteemed Lee a lot. He could have been my son. Well, Billy and him! The two young men on the fleet, which I loved as my own! I looked at both, father and son arguing, with tenderness. They both were right in their own ways. I wanted to treat Lee with respect. This was important to him. I intuitively felt that he would have been a great lawyer. Of course Tory had not given him the files Lampkin had been asking and that was upsetting. I do not know what was wrong with Tory, but she really was not keeping up with her work. She looked tired. I needed her more than ever, since I myself had to slow down a bit. I made sure she would deliver the files to Lee within the next few hours, a bit exasperated at her demeanor. Lee left. I dismissed Tory, sending her to prepare those files and I stayed a bit with Bill. He was slumped in one of the large chairs. I got up and sat next to him. We just looked at each other for a while.
'He's just trying to do his job' I said quietly.
'He's supporting Baltar's lawyer!' He replied with disgust.
'He's your son.' My voice was soft.
'Yeah! He's also under my command, as an officer!' His tone betrayed his anger. I nodded.
'Bill, do not let your anger alienate him. You love him. Remember that.' I was gentle in my tone, as I could see that they were both so affected. I know Bill would not like my comment, and, I was not going to censor my ideas, just because I knew they would upset him. I never did. That tense situation, I felt, could very well explode and affect both father and son. They both would regret that later. I was expecting him to be fully irritated at my unwanted advice instead he looked broken. He looked at me and sighed heavily. I smiled and took his hand. This simple physical contact was grounding for both of us. We existed in that moment, simply looking at each other. He got up a bit later and kissed me lightly before leaving."
"A few days passed without any news from Bill. We set up an interview for Lampkin with Caprica Six and I scheduled my check up with Dr. Cottle on the same morning. We were only one week from the start of the trial. It wasn't too much of a surprise, when he told me that the tests on my ovaries showed two estrogen responding malignant tumors one slightly larger than the other. He checked carefully my incisions, and found they were healing very well, as expected. He removed stitches. It was painful, but at least some of the pulling from the stitches disappeared. We decided that I would start the Doloxan immediately after I was done testifying, as he gave me a piece of his mind for the trial's delays. Meanwhile, he gave me some Chamalla in the hopes that the herb would provide some temporary protection, as its anti-cancer properties had been documented. I had used Chamalla before, during the first bout of cancer. It allowed me to experience visions, which matched perfectly the book of Pythia's predictions. Interestingly, I had never been very religious and I never had read the book before then. A lot of priests do take Chamalla in the hopes to elicit some kind of communication with the Gods. None of them experienced the kind of visions I had. From those predictions, people and Elosha, the priestess, my dear friend, who was killed on Kobol, told me I was the Dying Leader. Pythia predicted that a leader, suffering a wasting disease who lead them to Earth. The visions described in the book were completely identical to those I experienced under the Chamalla's influence. I was never quite sure myself that this really was true. Maybe I was not, since the Cylon's blood cured me. But then, I am sick again."
"While in Galactica, Bill, Tory and I went to the observation room to listen to the interview of Caprica Six by Baltar's lawyer.
Bill greeted me with 'Are you ok?' since he knew I was visiting Dr. Cottle the same morning. A simple nod on my part reassured him. We were busy; there was no time for such discussion.
Caprica Six was at first very confrontational and angry against Baltar and my hopes were high that she would reveal his involvement in the destruction of humanity. And in front of our eyes, we witnessed the cleverest manipulation of emotions I had ever seen. Romo Lampkin turned around her feelings as if they were a mere piece of clothing. In front of our stunned eyes, he validated her feelings and got her to express her love and disappointment. Then he told her just want she wanted to hear, that Baltar missed her and loved her. Baltar was never able to express any feelings of love toward another being, but himself. I am quite certain Baltar never confessed anything of the sort to Lampkin and that this was just a lie. The cylon Caprica Six acted exactly like a woman deeply in love and hurting from the betrayal of her lover. With the skills of a master manipulator, Romo Lampkin took her anger, broke it and destroyed our witness. In that moment I knew we were doomed. In other circumstances, I would have appreciated the brilliance of this lawyer, his intelligence and his gift of subversion. I glanced at Bill behind me and caught his gaze. I was worried. He was worried. That witness, our main witness, was gone."
"Our trial was delayed another two days, because a bomb had been placed by the door of Lampkin quarters right at the time I had sent a marine to deliver the files he requested from Colonial One. He was mildly injured, mostly scratches and some bad sprain on his leg. The good thing is that Lee was able to identify the terrorist this time, Kelly, a soldier who was upset that Baltar was getting a trial after all of the atrocities of New Caprica. He acted alone and confessed everything. Now the trial could start."
"I was glad that we caught our terrorist. Kelly, under the jurisdiction of Admiral Adama would face treason charges. Our journey's path was taking us directly to the Ionian nebula, where according to the evidence found at the Temple of the Five, we would get our next clue to earth. This quiet time before the trial was loaded with tension and anxiety. I wanted it to be over. I knew I would have to testify and recount my life on New Caprica, which included the detentions and all we had experienced. I was not looking forward to bring these carefully hidden memories brought back into the open for all to know. At the same time, I felt I needed everyone to realize how Baltar's regime created such distress on New Caprica. I knew that as soon as my testimony was over, I would be pulled into Dr. Cottle's office to get my treatment. I knew I had to do this. I dreaded it. My incisions were much better now; it hardly hurt. I was suffering from the lack of Estrogen, due to the removal of my ovaries. I had already been starting menopause and the abrupt removal of my ovaries precipitated those symptoms. I rested a little more than usual, slowing down my daily agenda, under the pretense to prepare for the trial. I was tired and I was getting terrible hot spells. Dr. Cottle handed me my glasses, which he said he found in sickbay in one of the examination rooms. I must have left them there last time I went for a visit. That was very odd, I cannot remember leaving them in sickbay. Anyway, I'm glad I have them back."
Thank you for reading. Please feed my muse and leave me some comments and reviews. It is always nice for me to have some feedback.
I will try to update within the next two weeks. Until then do not forget to enjoy life in the moment.