At the last possible moment Sharon came to a halt, still concealed in the shadows of nearby tents. As Six looked on, the other Cylon stood staring at the Chief's tent, the lingering crowd of unionists finally dissipating as the rain continued to fall harder and harder around them. Finally, the dark haired Cylon stooped slightly for a split second then turned quickly and fled into the night.
Six's face was impassive when she saw that the bag that had been in Sharon's hand was now sitting on the ground at the edge of the clearing. She'd had doubts from the moment she'd seen the bag of supplies as to whether or not Sharon would actually go through with delivering them. For Chief Tyrol's sake she'd been willing to make the effort, but deep down inside, although she'd never admit it aloud, she was still bitter towards the woman who'd killed her. The woman who was now married to the man that Sharon still believed herself in love with. And thiscould beher only chance for revenge.
Inside the tent, Sam was helping a former medic from the Pegasus to hang a sheet around the bed where Cally lay, her agonized moans signaling each contraction. Doc Cottle knelt clumsily at the foot of the bed, checking her progress, his expression grim. Rising to his feet he met the medic's eyes as the other man finished his task. At the younger man's questioning look, the old doctor gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.
"Chief, I need to ask you to step outside the curtain…" the medic started to say, but the other man wouldn't let him finish.
"Go frack yourself, I'm not going anywhere," he grunted, another contraction causing Cally to squeeze his hands so tightly they turned white in her grasp.
"It's just for a moment Chief," the doc said, his hand coming to rest on the younger man's shoulder. Galen swung his head around to protest, but something in the old doctor's eyes changed his mind.
Torn, the Chief turned to look down at Cally, an unreasonable guilt filling him as he did.
"It's okay Chief, I'll sit with Cally," Starbuck said, sitting on the other side of the bed. With a nod and a last squeeze of his wife's hand, Galen rose to follow the old man as he disappeared around the curtain.
"What's this all about?" the Chief demanded without preamble as soon as he rounded the end of the sheet. The doctor didn't answer at first, moving as far away from the sheet as possible without actually exiting the tent.
"I don't want Cally to hear this, alarm her before there's really a need for her to be alarmed about anything."
"But it's okay to scare the life out of me, is that it? She's going to be okay though, right?" the Chief asked, his voice just barely rising above a whisper.
The old man looked at his feet for a long moment before raising his head to meet the younger man's eyes. "I don't know. The baby hasn't turned; it's in the breach position. Now, normally I'd administer an epidural and…."
"But you don't have an epidural," Galen broke in hoarsely.
"No I don't."
"So what else can you do?"
"I can try to shift the baby into the birthing position."
"Can you do that? Have you ever?"
"Can't say that I've ever had a need to try it before."
"Has it ever been done before?"
"Of course it's been done; there just hasn't really been a need for it in the last couple hundred years."
"And that's our only option?"
"If I can't turn the baby, I'll attempt to deliver it breach."
"What do you mean attempt?"
"I'm going to be honest with you Chief, no matter what direction that baby comes; it's not going to be easy for Cally. If we were back on the Galactica, I'd have already administered the epidural."
Tyrol was silent for a long moment, his mind trying to absorb what the doctor had just told him. "What happens if she can't deliver the baby normally?" he whispered harshly.
Doc Cottle just looked at him, reluctant to give an answer.
"What were you thinking, Dad?" Apollo's voice angrily cut through the silence of William Adama's private quarters as he burst through the entry hatch with no warning. Heaving a weary sigh, the older man rose to his feet to face his son.
"I was doing what any good leader would do in the situation of war, utilizing all of my assets."
"You could have been killed!" his son shouted back, fear of losing the last bit of family he had adding a bitter edge to his voice.
Will stared at his son, not speaking, almost at a loss for words at the look of anguish that filled the younger Adama's face. "How'd you hear about it?" he asked softly.
"How'd I hear about it?" Lee's voice raged. "I got to find out about it by overhearing two deckhands gossiping about it. Right after Helo and I pull a double shift patrolling the fleet. You couldn't tell me you were thinking about talking to her? You didn't think to talk it over with any of your officers?"
"It was a tactical decision."
"A tactical decision?"
"That's right. I knew you'd never willing go along with any plan that involved me being alone in the cell with her."
"You're damn right I wouldn't! She could have killed you; she could still end up killing us all. We've got no reason to trust her."
"But she didn't kill me, and if we want to get our people back, we're going to have to trust her," his father said softly.
"How? She betrayed the rescue team that Kara took back to Caprica, she even turned on Helo! Ever since her baby died, she's completely turned on us."
"That's only because she thought we'd killed her daughter. Any mother would be pushed over the edge if she was being held prisoner and thought her child had died under mysterious circumstances," William reasoned. Something about his tone of voice, the choice of words caught Lee's attention.
"Why your sudden change of heart? Even when I was starting to think we could trust her, you held your ground. She was the enemy, case closed. Why should we trust her, Dad?"
"Because I made a deal with her, and I have every reason to believe she'll keep her word to help us retrieve our people from New Caprica."
"And what's she get out of it? Freedom?"
"Limited. She'll be allowed out of her cell under guard with minimum restraints until I'm assured that she is in fact co-operating."
"That can't be everything."
"No. I also told her I'd help her get her daughter back once we get our people out of Cylon control."
"But her daughter's dead," Lee stated in confusion.
William slowly seated himself on the couch once again, suddenly overcome by weariness. "No, it was just made to look that way. President Roslin declared it to be for the greater good. Only a handful of us ever knew." Even as he spoke, hecouldn't help but wonder how things may have been different over the course of the past year had he not gone along with that particular decision. Judging by the play of emotions crossing his son's face, he wasn't alone in his thoughts.
Helo sat on his bunk, alone in the crew quarters, a precious bottle of ambrosia clutched in his hand. Inside he was torn. He'd heard the same rumors that had sent Lee to the Galactica to confront his father, and a part of him had wanted to accompany his commander. Not to see the Admiral, but to have his own confrontation with Sharon. And then there was that part of him that didn't want to face her. What had the old man been thinking to go in there alone with her?
That question kept rolling through his mind over and over. Not even Helo was allowed to be alone in the cell with her, even back before she'd decided to hate all mankind. Before their daughter had died.
The thought of Hera brought a pain to his heart as it always did. Even after a year, it still felt like there was a great gaping hole there, a void that he was afraid could only be filled by his child. After Sharon's sudden emotional desertion of him he'd thought his heart would be numb, but it pained him more than ever.
He looked at the bottle of ambrosia again, wishing that if he drank enough of it the pain would all disappear. But he'd barely taken a few sips of it. The memories of Starbuck's downward spiral as she'd tried to drink away her problems were all too clear in his mind. The alcohol would make him feel good for a short time, maybe make him forget for a little while, but then he'd wake up and the pain in his head would be rivaling that in his heart and nothing would've changed.
"You got enough of that to share?" Dee's voice said softly from the hatchway, her hand gesturing towards the bottle.
"Help yourself," he replied, holding the bottle out to her. Somehow he wasn't surprised to see her standing there, it seemed like every time he needed someone to talk to these days she appeared. He wasn't sure what to make of it, if there was anything to make out of it. Once upon a time Starbuck had been the only person he could sit down and talk to, now Dee seemed determined to fill that role.
She stepped forward, taking the bottle from his hand and raising it to her lips and took a short pull. If she was surprised by the fact that the bottle was still nearly full, it didn't show. "I guess you heard the latest rumor," she said as she seated herself on the bunk directly opposite his own.
"Aren't you on duty? I mean, shouldn't you be up on the bridge flying this bucket instead of slumming it down here?" he responded, avoiding her gaze.
"Actually, the engineers pretty much take care of that, I just boss everyone around when Leedecides to disappear and relive his glory days as a pilot," she said lightly, bringing the ghost of a smile to his face.
"I guess you know he headed straight over to the Galactica."
"Like you said, I'm usually the one on the bridge running this bucket when he's not around. Kind of gives me an edge on knowing when Vipers and Raptors take off and land."
"Which is why I'm wondering what you're doing here," he mused thoughtfully.
"I'm just making sure my CAG still has his head on straight," she said flippantly.
"I'm fine."
"Are you?"
"Abso-fracken-lutely," he said, retrieving the bottle from her grasp and taking a pull from it.
"Then why didn't you answer me? About those rumors….."
"Because I don't have anything to say," he retorted, abruptly cutting her off.
"Sure, and that's why you're snapping my head off now."
He sighed, sitting the ambrosia aside. "I'm sorry, Dee. I guess I'm not real good company to be with right now."
"It's all right. I just wanted to let you know, I'm here if you need to talk."
"And what if I don't want to talk?"
"Wha…."
Dee's question was cut off as Helo turned and pulled her towards him, dropping his lips to hers. His lips were hard at first, gradually softening as their lips parted. They broke apart, each looking questioningly into the others eyes.
Kara had paced along outside the tent for most of the night after she'd been banished from the inside by Doc Cottle and his assistant when they went to work trying to deliver Cally's baby. She'd held her vigil, though the others had long since gone. Only Sam had stayed with her during the long night, though she'd tried to send him away, still worried about his health after that bout with pneumonia he'd suffered.
Now she was alone, though, gnawing on a fingernail as her mind raced withthoughts, first and foremost was wondering for the thousandth time what was happening inside the tent. She'd sent Sam back to their tent, telling him that there was no point in both of them being there. It wasn'tthe real reason for sending him away, but she couldn't bring herself to admit that she wanted some time alone to do some thinking.
The night had been such a blur to her that she'd not once noticed Leobon watching in the distance. As soon as Sam had walked away, he'd made his move.
For his part, watching Starbuck had become a hobby of Leobon's that he'd developed since the day the Cylons had first invaded New Caprica. He'd been waiting for the opportunity to get her alone, something he hadn't managed to do since just after the invasion. He couldn't keep the smile from his face as he silently walked up behind her.
"It's been a long time Lieutenant, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to avoid me," he said softly. "Or maybe you're just afraid of being alone with me."
A brief tension in her shoulders was the only thing that betrayed her surprise. She quickly recovered, replying, "In your dreams, and I've told you before Leobon, it's Captain now. Didn't they give you enough memory when they rebuilt you?" As she spoke, she slowly turned to face him.
He stepped closer and came to a halt directly in front of her. Looking down at her he replied, "I remember, I just like that little gleam in your eyes when you think you're getting the last word in."
"What do you want, Leobon?" she demanded. Already exhausted from her all night vigil, she was in no mood to play verbal games with him. He didn't answer though, just kept looking down at her face and smiling. He had all the time in the world.