Thank you everyone, especially those who have commented whether here on on twitter. Your feedback is very important to me, because it gives me ideas to continue the story and I can discuss some of these ideas with fans who have a very deep understanding of the story.
I have spent a lot of time working on this chapter (and Chapter 40 which is not finished yet), because I believe that Baltar's trial is a real turning point in Laura's own psychology, her ideas and the way she sees life. It brings a real conflict in her and starts a change in her deeply held opinions. This is something I really want to address and explore in Chapters 40 and 41.
I have done a lot of research for this chapter, going back over commentary from the stars of the show, podcasts and interviews.
I am also progressing nicely on the present time story.
Enjoy...
Chapter 39
Helena woke up several times during the night. She was anxious and kept on checking the progress of the back-up on the drive. The first couple of times, Takashi did not wake up when she did. She turned on the small lantern on low light just to prevent her from inadvertently bump into equipment and Takashi's bags. She looked at the progress bar on the computer screen, moving so incredibly slowly. It was barely half way done. Were they becoming completely paranoid or were they really sitting on the most powerful time bomb the world ever possess? A cultural time-bomb that is! But still one with incredible and powerful political and even economical ramifications. This potentially could unite all nations on earth, if it was handled well, or create a war for information with some nations using this to gain influence, trying to understand cylon technology, fighting over who had the right to possess it and use it, discriminating and dividing. She sighed. She was not very optimistic on which way this would go, just even looking at the poverty, hate and war tearing Africa, the political struggles all over the continent, and around the world. How far would they go to protect this discovery? She believed in the goodwill of most of the politicians involved so far, but this was an exceptional discovery, and once it climbed up the hierarchical ladder, which it would do without doubt, she was not sure anymore how it would be handled. The presence of cylon technology had changed the outcome considerably. Takashi was sleeping peacefully. Helena looked at him tenderly. How long had they known each other? Thirty years, just about. Their lives had brought them back together again and again. There was this familiarity that only years of collegial work and deep friendship brought. Archeological digs in the desert, academic work, writing and publishing together, attending conferences around the world, all of those had brought them closer. Respectful of their respective private lives, he had been happily married, she had dated here and there, and they never had crossed that invisible boundary into intimacy. And now this: sharing the exhilaration and the burden of the most important discovery of all times. Now she was free and he had lost his wife and son. Helena lowering the light even more, climbed back onto the cot by him. He sighed and unconsciously pulled her back into his arms. She closed her eyes. She woke up a few hours later and went back to check on the progress on the computer. It was still dark outside, but dawn would break soon. The back up was almost completed.
"How are you doing?" he whispered. She jumped in surprise, revealing her tension.
"I kept on waking up", she replied. "This is almost done", she added showing the computer.
"We need to make a second copy", he stated, "We need to put them in a place where they cannot be found."
"Takashi, we are stuck here, no mail, no safety box, no communications with the outside world. Where do you want to put it? Not in the village, that is the first place they would look. Large data transfers on out sat phones would attract attention."
"For the moment, nobody knows what we have found. I say we hide the drives temporarily in some of the caves; we can update them regularly when we get more data and when you finish translating Laura's diaries. When we go, I take one of them with me and I place it in a safe."
"What about the others?" Helena whispered, referring to the team members.
"I thought about this, I have most of their data here. John has some of the chemistry raw data, but I have all of the quantified results, ready for publication. Evelyne does not have much so far. It is going to change, of course, as soon as she starts gathering genetic information".
"We tell them?" Helena asked.
"They are not idiots; they probably already arrived at their own conclusion. We are all in the same boat. It's going to take all of us to protect this project."
He started the second transfer of the data on the other drive.
"We have a couple of more hours before the morning; we should get some rest, it will be a busy day." Helena snuggled back with him on the rather narrow cot.
They got up soon and headed immediately to the others' tents. John Evans had already started to back up his own computer.
"As soon as you mentioned that they had a Cylon head, I thought we better save all of our stuff" John said with a smirk.
"Our thoughts exactly…" Helena said. "The others?" She was referring to the rest of the team.
"They're with us." John said.
A few minutes later they were all sitting around the campfire with their coffee.
"We need to get more data." Takashi said to his team.
"I can go and start getting some more information about the village", the usually quiet Liang said. He was excited by the idea of exploring the caves.
"I will go with Liang and start interviewing the villagers and get some genetic samples. We will ask Sharon to go with us and she can help with the translation." Evelyne said.
"I will go with Helena and John to explore the back caves and take samples of the cylon remains." Takashi said, "We take our sat phones. We stay with our team and take careful notes. If we find something worth exploring, we make a note of it and we go back later. We do not separate from each other and we all reconvene by 15:00 hours the latest. That will give us nine hours worth of exploring. Document everything you see, take pictures, take notes. Be careful."
By the time they had eaten breakfast and packed all their equipment in sturdy backpacks, they saw Sharon and Elosha walk in their direction. The group climbed back into the caves. An enthusiastic crowd welcomed them in the village. Helena supposed they were not seeing strangers very often. Dr. John Evans was carrying some heavy battery operated portable Raman and mass spectrometers, which both cost a fortune due to their miniaturizations, but would be useful in identifying elements and molecules found. Evelyne and Liang set themselves to work in the village with Sharon as an interpreter and Takashi, Helena and John followed Elosha into the back caves. They set up several lanterns in the cave to illuminate it and Helena took detailed pictures of the writings on the wall. Then Elosha took them to the crate with the cylon's head. Takashi noted that the crate was in everyway similar to the one they found on the Lady's ridge. When Elosha opened the crate, Helena reached for Takashi's hand. She shivered looking at the dark metallic head, its V-shaped slit dark and threatening.
"Whoa..." whispered Takashi as they all leaned with their flashlights to look inside the crate.
"Can we move it?" John Evans said, ready to take some samples. Elosha nodded. John put some vinyl examination gloves and spread a waterproof tarp on the ground, and then he kneeled by the crate and carefully lifted the head out of the crate to lay it on the tarp. Helena took more pictures facing the front and also the back of the head. When they moved the head, a tarnished chain fell down. It had a hexagonal medal with inscriptions on it.
Helena also put some gloves examined the medal with her light and a magnification lens.
"Looks like brass…" she said. "There is a name engraving on it and what looks like a date."
"Can you read the name?" Takashi asked.
"Yes, it says, Sharon 'Athena' Agathon." She replied looking at Takashi.
Elosha had tears in her eyes. "Sharon Agathon as a big part in our history. Sharon is a favorite first name of our daughters, as we honor her memory. Sharon Agathon was the mother of Hera, our founder, the first village chief."
John was taking samples of the chain in little test tubes and biological swabs of the chain and tag. He also took several samples of what he thought was organic material on the inside part of the cylon's head. Then he took samples of the metal on every section of the head and inside the crate. When he was done, he respectfully handed the chain and tag to Elosha.
"You should have this, Elosha."
She took it with trembling hand and put it over her neck.
"Elosha may I take a small sample from your bracelet? It will barely be visible and we can take it from the inside part." She nodded and gave him the bracelet. John scraped a little flake of the metal into a test tube and handed back the bracelet to her quickly. He carefully labeled all of his samples. Continuing to examine carefully the cylon's head, he noticed some concealed opening on the back, which he could pry open with a small screwdriver. He had now access to the circuitry, electronic connections, very much looking like processors.
"I'm going to try something…" He said quietly and Elosha, Helena and Takashi looked at him in amazement, as he disconnected wires from the spectrometers power supply, and connected them to small electrodes.
"We will start with a very low voltage and current. No need to blow the whole thing." He set it and pressed the electrodes at various sections of the circuitry, and the wires of the neck. Nothing happened. John continued very slowly to increase the voltage. Suddenly a slight humming, like the fan of a computer, came out of the head. Helena grabbed Takashi's arm.
"Look!" She pointed to the V-slit on the front of the head and a very faint red light had appeared in the dark crease. John turned the power up. The light intensity increased and it started scanning its surroundings left to right and right to left with an ominous electronic sound.
"Stop" Elosha screamed. And John dropped the electrodes. Immediately, the light vanished.
Elosha was shaking. Helena immediately went to her side and comforted her, her arms around her shoulders. Elosha whispered, "What if we bring it back to life and it communicates to the others that we are still alive?"
"That is a very good point." Takashi said, nodding to Helena and John. John took pictures of the circuitry and more samples. While John was working, Takashi and Helena led Elosha to the other side of the cave. They pulled blankets out of their bags and sat down comfortably with her.
"Elosha," Helena took her hands in hers, "I brought you some of the pages of Laura's diary. I didn't know if you could read their script, so I brought both the original and the translation. But there is something you need to know." Helena looked at Takashi. He nodded his approval silently. "Sharon Agathon was a cylon. She had a baby with Karl Agathon, a human, and they were married. The baby was Hera."
Elosha looked at both of them, panicked.
"It's true" Takashi said. "It seems that the cylons had evolved and became androids with a biological form able to reproduce with humans, and they kept the ability to transfer their consciousness into new bodies."
"It's not possible. Our scriptures do not confirm this."
"I think that the cylons that came to earth with the humans were their friends. I think that they fought together against the other cylons and founded this colony. They escaped them together and they were allies. Sharon, her husband and their daughter Hera created this colony. They were good people and they probably were very united with the rest of the humans and maybe other biological cylons. They were not the enemy, Elosha." Helena said. "There were two kinds of cylons. And I am still working on Laura's diaries. But it is very clear that Sharon helped the humans. She was as human in spirit as any of the humans traveling with her. Maybe these early colonists decided that they would unite and accept those flesh and blood cylons as humans. The blood of Hera saved Laura. Laura had a bout with cancer. She went in remission after receiving a transfusion from Hera. But Laura's cancer returned some years later, and she died from it probably very soon after she reached Earth."
"Did Laura have children?" Elosha asked with a trembling voice, tears streaming on her face.
"No she did not. She was married to a man named William Adama, Bill, as she calls him. He was the Admiral of the fleet of vessels that arrived to Earth. He had a son from a previous marriage." Helena said.
"Elosha," Takashi said gently, "you do not have to believe us. We brought you Laura's diary. You take it and you take the time to read it. You can come to your own conclusions by yourself. Then we can talk about it and you can share your own information. You will decide if you want to share these pages with your people."
Elosha nodded, looking at the thick folder that Helena handed to her. She looked at them kindly. "I am grateful of what you have brought to me. You are both good people, I can tell. You are not lying. I will read and I will decide."
"Thank you for your trust" Helena whispered.
"I will stay here and read, while you work." Elosha said. Takashi took Helena's hand and helped her stand up. They looked at each other for a minute, silently communicating their emotion. Then Helena took her digital camera and her laptop and started to work on the wall inscriptions, while Takashi joined John Evans by the cylon's head; he was setting up his equipment for analysis. They kept checking quietly on Elosha who was reading, deeply focused on the pages.
"I had a tormented night, full of detention flashbacks mixed with Chamalla induced visions. I kept on seeing Lee's look burying on me like a knife and upon waking from this nightmare, scared and shaken, I wondered if Lampkin would expose publicly my relationship with Bill. He had no proof, really; maybe Lee had just a feeling. I couldn't believe Lee would do such a thing. He always was my hero, the young captain Apollo, doing what was right. I went back to memories of the early days after the attacks. Commander Adama, not yet Admiral, was obnoxious with me right when I became president. He called me 'a school teacher' and refused my authority. He was programmed like the military: to win the war. But the war was over before it even had started. We had been annihilated, destroyed and there was no possibility of winning when the only remaining human survivors were just a little more than 50,000 souls. There was only one way to go: survival. I thought of Lee back then, when he was captain Apollo. A young man, already disagreeing with his father, was taking my side, faithful, loyal and deeply honest. He followed me and protected me. He was the only one, aside from Billy and Wally, who knew about my cancer. I confided in him. I trusted him. He was the one who did not hesitate to start a mutiny to follow me on Kobol. He fought with me with his life. What was I then for him? Another mother? Someone to anchor his still unresolved pain after the damaging divorce of his parents? Bill told me that his mother had been abusive and that he had not realized how alienated his two sons had become when he left. Lee had loved me in a sense, and I don't know if his anger now was also the reflection of his attachment for me. I kept professional with him; I did not become his mother or his friend. Did he feel betrayed by me? Did he have expectations I never knew existed? Did I miss something? I did not know how far he would go. Still, I couldn't brush away my apprehension. It took a while to fall back asleep."
"I knew my interrogation would continue the next day in the morning session. Before me, Zarek took the stand. He was asked to testify on his detention on New Caprica and how he was, with me, taken to be executed by the centurions. As I listened to his testimony, I remembered how much he suffered in the New Caprica's jails. As a terrorist, he had been in detention before and he had the unique perspective of being able to compare the two experiences. I could have loved him in this moment, as he recounted his own experience and his struggle, if I did not know that his agenda, not so hidden, was in priority his access to power. I recalled fondly of our conversation in the truck leading us to our death. Of course we did not know we were going to be executed, but we shared then perhaps the only genuine moment between us. He understood how I had tried to fix the elections and I did not hide this from him. It was a sincere moment; the only one we ever had. Zarek was an intense man, and I am one who likes intensity in men. But his attraction to power, such that he would use any mean to get it, was enough to prevent me from entertaining any further association with him, whether political or even personal. He never had any problem seeking the help of criminals to get what he wanted and I never would go that low. Adar liked power too and was also, just like Zarek, resorting to unethical moves to get it, especially after he became president and tried to maintain power and the status quo. That was when I stopped loving him. Well, did I even love him? The reasons why I never broke my relationship earlier with Adar were only due to my own weaknesses, a certain cowardice, and pure unabashed lust. I know now that I lost some valuable time with him, which could have been better used elsewhere in a real relationship. He was married. I had known him since high school and life took us separate ways; I became a teacher for a few years, right out of university, and coincidentally life brought us back together after I finished my doctorate in educational leadership, and took my position as head of the Caprica City schools, while he was the Mayor of Caprica City. My family was killed and, a few months later, I joined his campaign. We started having an affair quite late in his campaign after the primaries and during the general election, before he became president. Now I have some regrets; I suppose having cancer and witnessing the end of a civilization at the same time put things in perspective. When Zarek finished his testimony, he came to me and in a rare sign of respect, shook my hand, nodding to me."
"Then I was called to the stand. I was ready for anything, except what happened. Lampkin 'associate', Lee asked to be the one questioning me. I immediately knew that he was going to betray me and the night's terror and reflections came back to me. Immediately I remembered how his antagonism with his father had escalated and how he resented him. Years of guilt, miscommunication and anger created this moment when Lee decided to betray us. Lee felt his father had let him down when leaving him with his abusive mother. That anger was never resolved between them. Lee probably felt I betrayed him as well, by becoming close to his father. He started to ask me if I was alive because of Baltar, and immediately shifted his questioning to my first bout with cancer and how Baltar saved me by injecting me with the blood of the half-cylon child. I knew he was going to use my cancer against me. I could hide behind my glasses, deflecting his questioning as much as I could, his insisting questions on my treatment and his mention of Chamalla extract yielding visions were clearly meant to discredit me. As soon as I heard the word –Chamalla-, I knew then. I knew he knew. I knew where he was going. I hummed and half-smiled at him. I only felt pity for him. So that was it. I realized I had nothing left to loose. If he wanted to go down this way, then we would fall together. He, on the contrary, had a lot to loose, my trust, his self-respect, his father, and well, his integrity. The pain of his betrayal was acute, like being stabbed in the heart. Lee, whom I trusted, had decided to go for the kill. He had decided to use me against his father. He pointed out at the hallucinogenic effects of Chamalla and I reminded him how these hallucinations were foretold by the scriptures and enabled us to find the way to Earth. The prosecuting attorney tried to stop unsuccessfully this line of questioning. Lee asked for one more question. He approached me very close, facing me. Did he want to witness closely the pain he was about to inflict? Self-righteous Lee, thinking that he had discovered a great weakness of mine, an addiction maybe, did not even think of the consequence of his questioning. He wanted to hurt me, because he wanted to hurt his father. I was protecting Lee and his father as much as myself, when I whispered to him: 'please don't do this…please.'
He continued, oblivious of the pit he was digging for himself.
'Madame President, are you taking Chamalla at this time?'
He broke my heart. I wanted him to know that. I swallowed my tears and looked at him in his eyes whispering my pain to him, my voice hitching and not even caring if anyone else was hearing me.
'Captain Apollo, do you remember that? I always thought it had such a nice ring to it… I am so sorry, so sorry, for you now.' Captain Apollo, his call name, full of force, integrity and courage, which was lacking him so much at this moment.
He pressed: 'Chamalla, Madame President, perhaps dissolved in your tea to mask the bitterness.'
Before I even had the time to reply, Bill interjected: 'Don't answer. I'm putting a stop to this now.'
Lee yelled back at his father and at the judges. 'If she is on drugs, it goes to her credibility as a witness.'
'Witness is dismissed.' Bill said strongly. 'Bill, what are you doing?' I thought.
Lampkin stood defending Lee, 'your honors I have to strongly object he's obviously trying to cover something up here.'
'One more word from you and you'll both be held in contempt.' Bill said.
Doyle Franks intervened and another judge, the Gideon's commander, and said she wanted to hear the answer of the question. While I appreciated Bill's effort to protect me, I knew he could not stop what had been started. I had to answer, but I surely would not let Lee get away with it. I looked at Bill and saw how upset he was. He did not need to defend me. I could defend myself. I wanted him to stop implicating himself trying to protect me, clearly indicating publicly how close we were.
Judge Franks repeated the question: 'Madame President, are you taking Chamalla again?'
'Yes, I am.' I replied looking at her, softly.
Lee looked intensely at his father, then he said: 'No further questions'
I was certainly not going to leave it at this.
'Mr. Adama, are you going to ask me why?'
He turned around 'I'm sorry?'
'Why… am I… taking… Chamalla again?' I said, as if I was talking to one of my elementary students, enunciating the words clearly for his understanding. I was ice cold with anger.
'It's not strictly relevant.'
'Perhaps it's not relevant to you, but it's relevant to me.' I saw on his face that he suddenly understood. He had the expression of a little kid, scolded by his mother. I continued sharply, 'go ahead ask me why... Finish what you started.' Lee came for the kill; he should not leave his victim injured and turn away. No, Lee, why don't you have the guts to finish me!
He approached the stand again, this time hesitant, trapped.
'Why are you taking the Chamalla again, Madame President?' His voice was shaking. I felt his doubt wash over him. Take your responsibilities until the end, Lee, now that you decided to betray your father and me. I took off my glasses, baring my soul to him, and looked… at him and then at all of them.
'I am taking Chamalla again because my cancer has returned.'
I looked at Lee, watching my words make their way into his consciousness and triggering his shame."
"I left Galactica immediately. And I knew now that I had to face the press. I was fully expecting the type of questions I would get. Now that it was out, I felt relieved and I could put on a little show for the press. Tory did not handle this well at all. She completely lost it in front of the press, unable to face their questions. I had to send her away. I showed the face of optimism and, when Karen asked me how long I had to live, I could not prevent myself and turned back the question at her. Truth is I survived the first bout of cancer and so I did not know my future. In our dire circumstances, who could assume of what our future would be. We all could die tomorrow in a cylon attack. I had known a lot longer about the cancer than I pretended for the press and I did not let them know how much it had spread. It was all a great act to reaffirm my leadership, which could have been easily compromised by this news. I scolded Tory. She obviously had some issues; she had been unable to concentrate on her work. I had no time for her incompetence. She was here to help me and if she was unable to do so, I could not keep her working for me. I dismissed her and ordered some food. I wanted to have a quiet evening alone."
"I did not turn on the wireless; I knew the press would be replaying my testimony non-stop with various levels of commentary. I wanted silence. Lee's betrayal was painful. I knew it had been coming; still it was painful. I was tired. In the bathroom mirror, I looked at myself. My testimony was over. Tomorrow, I was scheduled to start the Doloxan treatments. My breath caught in my chest when I though about it. I quickly undressed and looked at my naked reflection in the mirror. Nobody could guess that my body was crawling with cancer. Dr. Cottle did not even consider taking my breasts out. The skin was even, the lump I felt was still there barely visible. My surgical scars on my lower abdomen were healed and still pink. The scars of my beating were almost completely erased, light white nacre lines, slightly raised. I looked healthy. Ah, the irony! I looked human; soon, I knew my body would start a slow decay towards death due to the chemotherapy. I saw my mother endure Doloxan treatment. Tears started to pool in my eyes and I scolded myself for my weakness and self-pity. I took a shower. Then, despite my best resolve, I could not stop my tears from flowing, as the walls and tight restrains I put during the day on my emotions started to crumble under the hot water spray. I banged against the tile in frustration and anger, making my fist red and sore. I knew the first treatment would not make me very sick. It tends to build up over time. I dried up and put pajamas. As I was pathetically feeling bad about myself, the phone started ringing.
'Laura? I'm so sorry about Lee…' Bill said in the receiver. I smiled.
'I know. You're not responsible, Bill. He is an adult. He chose to do this.'
'My fights with him did not particularly help,' he conceded, 'how are you?'
'Tired. I'm doing my first treatment early tomorrow morning; I'm not looking forward to that. And then I will head out to the courtroom.'
'So soon? I won't be able to accompany you.'
'It's nice you want to be there. Doc Cottle wants to start right away. He has been giving me hell about this, you know him! I will rest in sick bay.' We both remained silent for a minute.
'Laura…'
'I know, Bill' I said, my voice breaking. I hung up with a sigh and went to bed."
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