Tom Zarek jogs into the CIC after getting a call, asking for the President's presence.
"The hell are you doing here?" Bill Adama picks his head up from the center console, the hub of the room.
"You asked for the President. Unless you'd like for me to find Baltar-"
The Admiral shakes his head, "I don't care what your title says...you're not the President."
"With all due respect, Admiral, I'm all you got, legally. Roslin will be back, but I have to be President for a little bit. So you're going to have to deal with it, Sir." Tom Zarek shakes his head, never liking the man. He always felt Adama could turn evil at the drop of a hat and usually did things in order to appear kind natured when he was actually selfish. Such as saving the humans on New Caprica, there he knew of his grandson, personal gain.
Adama listens to the man, knowing he is correct. He nods quickly, "Fine. We have cylon presence." He motions to the DRADIS, "Mister Agathon."
Helo nods, "Yes, Sir." He focuses on Zarek, "It seems the attack is coming from the inside out. The FTL drives within eight of the ships have been sabotaged. One has had their water tanks destroyed."
Zarek nods. He knows the outer fleet like the back of his hand, "Which ships? Do they know?"
The taller man shakes his head negatively, handing him a small piece of paper with the names of the ships printed onto it, "No, sir. No one outside the ships' crews."
"Okay. We may need to leave them."
"Sir?" Helo furrows his brow.
"It isn't what we would want. This is a worse case scenario. They are my people and I must protect them, but giving one hundred lives to save thirty-some odd thousand...that's a chance we're going to have to take." Tom Zarek always hated the outcome of the Olympic Carrier, forever burned into his mind. He thought he knew that Roslin could have handled it differently, but now...now he was in her shoes.
"Of course she wanted them dead. You know it. That bitch is nothing but a cold hearted sociopath. I mean...how the frak could a teacher rule the people of the colonies?" One of the former prisoners said as he sipped on a drink at the bar. "This is all a play for votes. We all know it. We aren't stupid."
Tom Zarek raised an eyebrow as he listened to the man, "Saying a teacher has no handle over her students?"
"I'm not a student. I graduated years ago. When you graduate, that means you know all you need to know to live."
"No, it means you know all you need to know in order to make educated decisions. Uneducated ones are completely of your own will."
The prisoner watched him for a few moments, "Sound like you're taking up for her to me."
Zarek shrugs, "She's never done anything to me...and she's actually devoted to her people...crazy as that may seem."
The prisoner raised an eyebrow, "You're shitting me, right?"
"He's always full of shit. I've got a half hour. Pour me something." Gruffed the usual fleet Medical Doctor, Sherman Cottle.
"You're okay, baby." Laura Roslin cradles her son in the Sick Bay. She sits on the bed with the boy behind pulled curtains. Worst case scenarios flood her mind over and over, playing like some sort of slide show. Like what her father used to show his friends after the family road trips. Her father, he would have loved Sloane. "Stop, Laura." She tells herself, sighing.
Sloane watches his mother closely from his place on her lap, "Mama kay?"
She nearly jumps, thinking he was asleep, "Hey." She offers him a soft smile, "I'll be better when you feel better."
The boy offers her a comforting smirk, his cheeks rosy with fever still, "My kay."
"I'm sure you are, but Doctor Cottle wants you to stay overnight." Laura nods, "And don't you worry, I'm not leaving your side. No chance." She tenses slightly. The boy begins to cough, she bites her lip with uncertainty.
Cottle walks briskly to the curtain, throwing it to the side, "Hey, how's my favorite patient?" He smirks slightly to the toddler.
"He's awake and talking." The woman offers the man a nervous smile.
"I can see that, but I didn't ask you." He scowls to Laura for a moment, before looking back to the boy, "Sloane."
"My 'kay." The toddler grins to the man, the only grandfather figure other than Bill Adama he's ever had. He sits up, his mother's arms still protectively around him.
"Then why the hell are you in here? There are sick people here." Cottle places the earbuds into his ears before pressing the tip of his stethoscope against the boy's chest. "Deep breaths." He smirks ever so slightly when the boy complies, knowing exactly what to do. "Great job." He glances from side to side before procuring a lollipop from his pocket, unwrapping it, and handing it to the boy.
"Well?" Laura watches the man closely.
"Still a little slow. Could just be the stress from the transfer up here, but that would usually cause tachycardia." The older man runs his hands over the toddler's head, then neck. "Anything hurt on you?" When the boy doesn't more to confirm or deny, he continues, "Can you point to what hurts?"
Sloane motions to the faint scar over his chest, causing the old man to nod, "My kay."
"I know you are." Cottle smiles softly to him, "We're going to get some blood work going. I'm betting we're dealing with infection. Not uncommon after heart surgery. Can even happen a year or two after the procedure. Since I could only keep the med tent as clean as the world around, it's a possibility."
"Infection?" The woman's eyes open a little more, her mind obviously racing.
"Oh, would you calm the hell down. Laura? Boy is fine. Fever is a good thing. Means his body is fighting it off, and since he isn't too weak, that's even better." He nods, "I'll send Ishay in just a moment. The two of you get comfortable. Would you like for me to call Tory? Have her send some things over for you both?"
"Yes, that would be great." Laura answers quietly, watching as he turns around, "And Doctor?"
"Yes, young lady?" He mumbles.
"Don't say anything to Lee just yet, please. I want to know just what we're dealing with before I affect his concentration and flight ability."
Cottle looks to her a moment, "If I hear the coms go quiet for a while with a little peace, I'm letting him know. You shouldn't go through this alone when he wants to be here as well. This isn't New Caprica, Laura." He continues through the opening of the curtain, shaking his head a little.
"You're all about protecting yourself, Madam President." Tom Zarek scowled as they sat in the same room, Presidential hopefuls and their assistants, "I mean no offense. However, you're so afraid about prophecies that you're willing to put the hopes and dreams of the fleet in jeopardy. They want to settle down. They're sick of being stuck in these..."
"Death tubes." Gaius Baltar nodded, helping the man with a word.
"Why won't you give these people what they want?"
"Because I know that the first time we settle, the cylons will find us. I know it in my heart, I know it in my soul." Laura Roslin shook her head, "If we settle and they return, which I know they will, the people will be stranded. They'll massacre us...torture us...use us for target practice. There will be no way-"
"Galactica will be nearby." Baltar interjected.
"Yes, and how quickly will the people be able to file into the ship? How much of their personal belongings will need to be left behind? Pictures of their parents, siblings long gone...husbands, wives...It's far too dangerous."
"Personal belongings, Madam President?" Tom leans back in his seat, "People are happy just to be alive."
Baltar pulls his jacket closer around him as he maneuvered his way about the cylon basestar, next to the blonde model he has become so accustomed to. "Your ship construction and overall appearance...it's spectacular." He fidgets, as he always does.
Caprica Six smiles down to him, "Relax. We don't bite here. Contrary to popular belief." She gently touches his arm, "Besides, we are celebrating these days. You're a hero amongst my people. You found the child known as Hera...well...most of them don't like that name. I'm rather fond of it."
"Yes, well...She needed to be rescued. I laid my life down for her." He uses his hands to speak, every gesture a grand one.
The blonde rolls her eyes, "What can you tell me about Laura Roslin?"
"Well, I-"
"I'm sorry, I mean the procedure you performed on Laura Roslin in which you used stem cells from the infant Hera to cure her of her ailment."
Baltar nods, "There isn't much more to it than that, actually. Stem cells are an amazing thing. The hybrid infant's were of exceptional importance because cylons are known not to become ill...at least, not on their own. A virus must be spread by external force, such as poison. Making you generally immune. She would be able to heal at a much faster rate and return to her position in a quarter of the time it normally requires cancer patients."
"Correct." Caprica listens intently.
He falls quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry, I don't believe I'm understanding what you-"
"Those stem cells would spread throughout Roslin's body, even bonding and aiding in the production of new cells. Correct?"
Baltar nods slowly, "Theoretically."
"For how long?" She folds her arms as they walk.
"Six months to a year." He answers quickly, then realizes exactly what she's asking, "This isn't about Laura Roslin..."
"The others have become...interested in the whole thing. Despite being a creation of human parents." Caprica grins widely, "Sloane Roslin has cylon genetic components to him. My brothers and sisters believe it would be in our best interests to have both a female and a male child in order to create the next generation in which human and cylon aren't terms that exist anymore. We would all be one group of people. Again, Dr. Baltar, it's all thanks to you."
Baltar stares out in front of himself, eyes wider than before. Frak.