Baltar might be a brilliant man with computers and he might have been suave before the Attacks but he must have cracked when the Attacks began because he seemed absolutely insane now. Stuttering and twitching and always looking over his shoulder like he was taking advice from someone only he could see.
Then there were the rumors of the really strange behavior, he was occasionally caught in heated conversations with no one. Racetrack had seen him in the head one time with his face smashed against a sink like his head was pinned there and Kara had told several people one night during a game that she'd caught him in his lab about a month before she'd jumped back to Caprica with his pants on the floor, frakking the air.
A teacher of Lee's talked about the fine line between genius and insanity once, Lee was pretty sure Baltar had leapt over that line and never looked back. Then there was Lee's first experience with the man after Caprica, he'd been talking-slash-flirting with Kara in the corridor after the second test of the blackbird when he'd noticed the man hovering out of the corner of his eye. Baltar was looking between the two of them, giving her lewd, raking glances only to cut nasty looks at him before Lee scowled at him.
Baltar's eyes widened before he turned away and scurried away like a rat, before he turned at an intersection he yelled, "Oh, shut up!" To no one, he might have cared had Kara's not stepped to his side and started playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.
After he and Kara saluted, Cain gestured them over to the table with her. Lee noticed his photos of the Cylon fleet spread over the table, "Thank you for coming so quickly, Major." She turned to Baltar, "Doctor?"
Baltar nodded jerkily and took a moment to adjust his glasses then cleared his throat and spoke, "As I told Colonel Fisk, the Cylons call this the 'Resurrection Ship.' C-currently we are too far from the Cylon home world to undergo the normal downloading process successfully so they built this ship." He pulled out one of the close-ups which showed the interior of the ship and continued, "It contains the complete apparatus for them to complete the downloading process not only for their agents but for the Raiders and Centurions as well. This ship has been traveling with the fleet that has been trailing the Galactica for several months now."
Kara looked over one of the images for a moment then turned to the Admiral, "So, it's what, a safety net? A fallback position for when they die?"
Baltar nodded and Lee looked up to his commanding officer, "So what happens if we take that net away?"
Kara smirked, "Any Cylons that die out here would be dead-"
Cain finally nodded approvingly, "As in really dead. It would drastically change their tactics."
Lee continued her line of thought, "We might even lose them for long enough to actually escape and regroup. Hell they might even give up the chase, if they loose their fallback they might think twice about engaging us."
Cain picked up Baltar's report and handed it to Fisk, "Send a copy to Galactica." She turned to Baltar, "Thank you Doctor, I think you've just identified the most important ship in the Galaxy."
Lee took a moment to digest the information Baltar had given them, "We'll get back to planning the operation, Admiral."
&&&&&&&&&
Bill walked into the President's office on Colonial One, he'd decided when the Admiral scheduled a mission briefing for later that day. Lee and Kara had put together a strike op and Cain had approved it. During the brief conversation, Cain instructed him to have the President there, she then cut the line. Things were still extremely tense between the three most powerful people in the Fleet. Their meeting after Lee had defused the fight between Galactica and Pegasus had ended just short of Cain pulling her sidearm and shooting him. He could almost hear her last words still bouncing off the walls, "You're frakking lucky you're not staring at your own warrant!"
He was in fact lucky for that, he'd mutinied. He mutinied against a woman who would have like a niece to him in things had been different. He'd been absolutely justified, Cain had ordered torture and rape and when two of his people stood up for the best parts of humanity, she'd ordered them put to death because they'd killed her "officer."
A part of him had wanted to march on to Pegasus and put a bullet in her himself.
That part had quickly faded when he was faced with combat against the Pegasus. He hadn't been kidding, he could have taken her ship down. He'd once beat Atlantia and Triton in war games, he knew Mercury class ships while he was on Valkyrie he'd help with the design of the class. He'd have given Cain more than she'd bargain for and then storm the ship to take his people back.
Lee's arrival had been a bombshell and it had bought Karl and Galen time. He known that even before Cain offered a delay to their execution. He found Laura seated at her desk and realized some good had come from Cain's arrival, the ease with which he got along with Laura.
It seemed now that he was the commander of the military she felt she could confide in him more openly. It was refreshing; he'd learned more about Laura in the last week than in most of the first three months of the Exodus. He hadn't felt like this since Anne…
Then it turned disturbing after the meeting with Cain, Laura had turned to him and all but ordered him to assassinate his superior officer. She told him he had to for the good of the Fleet, what good could come from running the last remnants of the Colonial Fleet like a pirate ship?
Laura looked up from the book she'd been reading and she smiled, "Commander? Is this visit business or did you get a hold of one of those blonde Cylon bodies for me?"
He smiled at her reference to her joking request that he get a new Cylon body for her. He took what had become his customary seat across from her and said, "Business. Admiral Cain is briefing us on our attack plan; she's requested your presence."
She nodded, "I've heard from scuttlebutt that she'd promoted a new CAG." She circled the desk and took a seat in the other chair. Crossing her legs, she adopted a less formal tone, "I understand that it's 'Major Apollo' now, is that true?"
Despite all the things Saul and he had talked about concerning the situation, he couldn't help the flush of parental pride at Lee's promotion and new assignment, "It is true, and to be honest it kind of saddens me. I had hoped to have been there; I'd missed his commissioning, and his graduation from Flight School and War College, and his promotion to Captain. I wanted to be there when he was promoted to a command rank. I am incredibly proud of him, even if he did have to steal some of Starbuck's moves. She is proud of him though."
Laura gave him an impish expression, "I'm sure she is, and I'm sure she's done an excellent job of congratulating him as well."
He shook his head, "There are some things a father shouldn't have to think about concerning their sons." Her hand reached out and gave his knee a caress and they shared a brief light moment before he said. "Kara says that Cain has taken Lee under her wing. They seem to have bonded because of his stunt with the blackbird. At the same time he's very conflicted over the attack on Miss Valerii-"
"We're referring to the Cylon by name now?"
Bill could understand Laura's hard look and icy tone. He had been softening towards their Cylon prisoner in recent weeks as he began to sit in on Helo's interviews. It seemed that whatever charm that had ensnared both the raptor pilot and his own son was slowing making Bill forget that she shared a face with the machine that shot him.
As a result he'd begun to relax her confinement slightly; she was no longer under armed guard and the cameras in her cell had been removed. He had even been considering removing the phone and allowing her to have visitors in her cell. He'd done it all quietly as he knew that some of his crew and many in the Fleet would not approve. Laura would be one of them.
"I am aware of what she is, but she has been a valuable source of intelligence. She's help us out since she arrived, from the very moment she arrived."
Laura nodded, "And she brought you your son back."
He sighed, "And she brought my son back."
Laura looked away and spoke in a resigned tone, "Bill, I've come to some conclusions. Unpleasant conclusions and I'm afraid I have to ask something equally unpleasant from you now. It's about what we discussed concerning Admiral Cain…"
&&&&&&&&&
For the second time in just over a week, Lee found himself in Galactica's SitRoom with tactical models spread out in front of him.
This time he and Karl weren't presenting a proposal to Kara, this time he and Kara were about to present the mission plan Admiral Cain approved for the strike on Resurrection to the Old Man, Colonels Tigh and Fisk and the President herself.
After they put together a plan late last night, Kara had returned to Galactica as she had morning CAP, while Lee hit the rack for a few hours. At reveille the next morning, he found the Admiral in CIC and requested a briefing to offer their plan for the strike. Cain had approved of the plan, she then called Adama and informed him that she, Fisk and Lee were coming over to brief his command staff and the President.
When he entered behind Cain and the Colonel, he made brief eye contact with his father. Adama glanced at his collar and gave him a nod, it reminded Lee of a conversation they'd had just before the Attacks where he'd congratulated him on his promotion to Captain. When he'd said it, Lee had heard the unspoken words, "It suits you." With a nod of the head, Lee'd heard those words again and he felt good about the praise, even unspoken, from his father this time.
When he and Kara had the models in place he looked to the Admiral and she gave him the floor. "This is a strike mission; our primary objective is a vessel the Cylons has named, 'Resurrection.' It is currently guarded by two Base Ships which have been following the Fleet through this sector." As he said this, two aides pushed the model base ships into position next to the Resurrection. "Our plan is to let the Cylons find us."
Kara picked up the presentation as she pushed models of Galactica, Pegasus and the Daru Mozu into place near the section of the map designated "Position Alpha." "We plan to jump in and wait for them in the nearby asteroid field and pretend to be conducting mining operations." The aides now pushed the Cylon vessels closer to the civilian ships. "When the Cylons jump in, the Fleet will jump away while we leave behind several decoy ships which will broadcast false reports of FTL damage and will attempt to escape under sub-light power to draw away some of the raiders."
The models of the Battlestars had been pulled away while raiders were place on the table in pursuit of the decoys. Lee spoke again, "Galactica and Pegasus will jump in and attack the base ships, launching vipers from both ships, their designation will be 'Flight One.' Showboat will be piloting the blackbird, designated 'Flight Two,' she'll jump in and destroy the FTL on Resurrection, preventing its escape." Lee placed the model of the blackbird which had a small tag reading "Flight Two," next to Resurrection.
Tigh looked over the map then said, "Why doesn't the blackbird jump in carrying in nukes and destroy the ship at the start?"
Kara shook her head, "We've run several projections and we believe that the Cylons would detect the nukes and destroy the blackbird before she could fire them."
Kara picked up two models while Lee said, "Once the FTL is destroyed, Flight Two will jump away and we will launch attack squadrons from both ships. 'Flight Three' will attack and destroy Resurrection."
Tigh looked directly at Lee and asked, "How many planes?"
Kara placed the models and said, "All of 'em."
Bill looked over the map, the plan was good, a perfect melding of Starbuck's bull-like bravado and Lee's flare for ruses. It should work. He then looked to the President who was looking over the map as well, though with a less trained eye. She glanced at Bill out of the corner of her eye and gave a very subtle nod. Adama then looked across the map table at Cain and frowned at her. He was about to order this woman's assassination, and it tore at something within him.
Cain cocked an eyebrow at him and said, "Something wrong, Commander?"
He sighed, "I'd like to take some time to go over the operational details."
Cain rolled her eyes and spoke dismissively, "Very well, I have reviewed them to my satisfaction." She looked to Lee and Fisk then turned to leave.
The two men started to follow her when Laura spoke, "Admiral? I'd like to review this with the Commander. Could you leave your CAG to answer my questions?"
Cain looked at the President with narrow eyes before she spoke to Lee, "One hour, Major." With those words, she was gone.
Once Cain left, Adama addressed the remaining personnel, "Give us the room." Tigh and the officers in the room filed out, leaving only four people. He turned to Kara's expectant face and said, "You should brief your pilots."
Kara's eyes widened at the dismissal, she glanced at Lee for just a moment before she left as well. Lee finished gathering his notes and tapped them on the table before setting them aside. He came around the table to stand at his father's side. Bill took a moment before he asked this of Lee to admire his new rank insignia and said, "Congratulations on your promotion, Lee."
Lee stood a little straighter and said, "Thank you, sir."
He removed his glasses and said, "I'm proud of you, son."
Lee flushed and looked away. Laura stepped forward and spoke, "We have a mission for you, Major."
Lee looked to his father and said, "Of course, name it."
Bill sighed, "Don't accept too fast, son. I'm not happy to be asking this of you, but it has to be done." Lee looked between them and nodded, "After the attack, when you've landed and accounted for all your pilots, I want you to report directly to CIC. Go alone Lee, you won't be able to trust any of your people to have your back on this one."
Lee took a half a step back, what were they asking of him? Bill continued, "There will be the normal chaos after an operation so no one will question your presence and their guard will be down. I will call for you on the wireless." He looked away and removed his glasses, then looked his son directly in the eye, "When you hear me say the word, 'downfall,' you will take out your sidearm and shoot Admiral Cain in the head."
Lee swallowed the lump in his throat and looked between them, "I don't… This is… What?"
Laura stepped forward, "This is the only way Major. Once the Resurrection is destroyed, Admiral Cain will execute Lt. Agathon and Chief Tyrol then take a more firm command of the Fleet. She'll kill Commander Adama and myself and then strip the Fleet for parts and people and return to the Colonies to attack the Cylons."
He shook his head in disbelief, "You can't know that."
"She's done it before, son." His head whipped around to his father, "Pegasus had a civilian fleet, Chief Laird said she stripped the ships for parts and people then left them stranded before returning to combat operations. She killed her former XO in the middle of CIC when he refused to launch an attack."
He didn't believe any of it, he couldn't believe Admiral Cain would do the things they said she did or that they'd resort to assassination. How could they ask this of him? His father then spoke, "Lee, I need you on this."
How could he refuse his father?