As the days ticked by, Life Station saw more and more women with the same complaint. It didn't cause too much of a disturbance in the Station because diagnosis was quick and instructions for treatment were quicker. Most people left happy with the assurance that two days in "bed" would almost certainly do the trick. Some women needed three or four.
Two days after he had seen Rush, Cottle made the unfortunate observation that he would have to inform his superior officers of the happenings in his Station. He called for a meeting with the president and the admiral, then spent the several hours he had to wait trying not to grind his teeth.
In Admiral William Adama's quarters, President Laura Roslin, Vice President Gaius Baltar, Billy Keikaya, and the admiral himself awaited the arrival of their doctor.
"I think I know what this is about," said the president in the calm, smooth way she had of saying almost everything. She was seated on the admiral's couch while the men were either having a drink or sitting in other chairs. Bill drank, Gaius only held his drink while looking nervous and fidgety as usual, and Billy merely sat in a chair nearest the president. All three of the men in the room looked at her.
"All of the women on my ship have been acting oddly. Billy, have you noticed?" Billy tried his best to avoid adding to what seemed to be an almost permanent blush on his cheeks and neck. He failed. They all looked at him expectantly, but he offered no more than a clearing of the throat.
The president continued, "Dinia, on my detail, took two full days off. She's never taken more than one sick day the entire time she's been with me. I wonder if there's some illness going around. Has anybody else noticed anything?" She looked around at the men, and as Gaius appeared to be about to say something, Doctor Cottle walked through the open hatch.
"Right," said the doctor, and he paused, appearing to gather his thoughts. The others waited, knowing that he would come to his point quickly. "The women of this fleet are being affected by…something. I don't know what."
They waited.
"Right," he said again. "The long and the short of it is this: well over three quarters of the women in the fleet-on every ship, mind you-have not been able to concentrate on anything but having sex."
Billy turned an impossible shade of red, Gaius fidgeted even more, the president looked like she was winning a cards tournament, so unreadable was her face, and Bill looked like he would either throw up or hit something.
Having received no response, Cottle continued, "The treatment is really very simple: somewhere in the range of two to four days in, um, well, bed. After that, everybody feels fine."
Gaius had something to say then. "You know, I-I have noticed…something…odd, really, going on…with the women." The president noticed the he was looking frequently over his shoulder as if he expected someone to come up behind him. She also noticed that everyone in the room was trying, with great success, to avoid looking at her at all.
"Well," Cottle added, "It's not just the women. There have been a handful of men affected as well. But there seems to be no shortage of willing partners, so it's not really too much of a problem."
Roslin asked, "You've no ideas about the cause, Doctor?"
At her words, they all looked at her and then looked quickly away, awkwardly and obviously ashamed at the direction of their thoughts. She noted that Bill had not looked at her at all. Ever the gentleman, he was trying to spare her any embarrassment their scrutiny might cause. Laura laughed and waved her hand, "Don't worry, gentlemen, I am unaffected."
Despite her intention to put them at ease, they all seemed even more uncomfortable at this very direct answer to the question in all of their heads.
"You may not remain so, Madame President. There are new, shall we say, patients every day. To answer your question, no, I don't know what's causing it," Cottle's manner became easier as he sidled on to more familiar, medical ground. "All lab results: electrolytes, hormone levels, they're all normal-well, as normal as they have been out here."
At the now familiar silence in the room, he continued, "I was hoping you could give some kind of statement. Instructions, maybe." They all snapped their heads over to him with similar expressions of shock.
"Oh, for frak's sake, I meant treatment instructions! So people won't keep coming in to Life Station thinking they're out of their heads!"
"Of course, Doctor," said the president calmly and with poorly disguised mirth. She seemed to be the only one with any sort of sense of humor about the situation. "I'll have Billy start working on a press release right away." Billy's face showed very clearly how much he would absolutely love to start work on that release right away. The president's smile showed how much she was aware of that fact.
"Good," said Cottle and he started heading toward the hatch. Baltar halted him when he began speaking.
"I think it might be the nebula." As everyone's attention turned to him, his defensive and fidgety manner was back in place. "That is-well, I haven't studied it extensively, but I-I, think it may be putting out a unique type of radiation. Perhaps it's affecting human physiology in some way we can't detect. By conventional lab testing, I mean."
Everyone considered it for a moment, and the president said, "Doctor Baltar, please study the nebula when you're not busy with other things," her tone made it clear what she thought those other things would be, "and get back to me with a report. However, it's not a high priority to find the cause." They all looked at her, slightly confused.
"Gentlemen! This is good news!" she spoke as though trying to explain something to a class of young students who should have gotten the point much earlier.
"More babies!" she announced. "This is a blessing. I understand we've been delayed here for the repairs on the ships' FTL drives and that we need to keep moving, but this is not a cause for all of your dour expressions. We'll get away as soon as we can, but a few days of further delay as many of our women are not able to perform their regular duties is something we're all going to have to accept." With that, the meeting was clearly over and everyone left the admiral's quarters.
Before she left, Laura reminded Bill of their lunchtime meeting the next day. He only murmured a response and didn't look up at her. She was unused to this treatment of her since they had come back from Kobol and especially since he had ordered that her life be saved by extraordinary means. She concluded that he had not heeded her words and she walked back to him.
"Bill," she said softly, "It's good news." She placed her hand under his chin when he still did not look at her. She gave him a good-humored look that said, "Agree with me, or else," and he managed a small nod and an even smaller smile.
"Good," she said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
As the hatch shut behind her, Bill sat shakily down on the couch and said aloud, "We need to get the frak away from that nebula."