Chapter 26
Battle Carrier Hermes – VIP Stateroom – Alliance Fleet
He stirred himself awake from a blissful night of sleep to find a deliciously warm Alexandra Schlein nestled in his arms.
While she slumbered quietly, a smile dawned lazily on Jackson's face. Even though his body had still been a tad bit sore from his battle with the Six on the Colonial's Cloud 9, he somehow had managed to rise to the occasion after she'd taken him to her bed last night.
Making love to Alex had been honestly the most intense experience of his entire life. That, in and of itself, concerned him considering how his years in Fleet Intelligence had all but buried the idealistic young midshipman he'd been almost twenty years ago.
Now his mind replayed the pleasurable memories of how the new lovers had scaled the summit of their passion, as their breathless endearments and exultant cries tumbled from their lips while his adoring gaze unwaveringly locked upon hers until they both had attained a state of mutual transcendence.
Now he watched over her and, admittedly, was a little amazed by the complete and utter devotion he felt for her.
After all, they'd only met four months ago at the gala she'd thrown for Dennis Amato and his staff. When he'd first laid eyes on her, Jackson had realized Alexandra Schlein was, without a doubt, the most exquisite woman he would ever see in his lifetime. Now Jackson was many things; however, he wasn't delusional. He was well aware of the fact that the woman was simply out of his league considering her heritage and the wealth her family had possessed for more than a thousand years or so. Yet, Alex had been accurate in her assessment of him. He truly was an arrogant bastard, arrogant enough to damn the torpedoes and steam full speed ahead in his pursuit of her.
Later, after he'd come to know her well, he'd realized how most people's impressions of Alex were completely off the mark. Under the razor-sharp competent, coolly analytical Family administrator exterior she showed the world-at-large, Alex was a compassionate, inquisitive, and self-effacing woman. He found her wry sense of humor and dry wit thoroughly enchanting. Soon, after he'd begun to grow comfortable with her, it was then he'd realized he had fallen under her spell.
Now, at that very moment, in the light of the new day, he'd come to the realization that he couldn't allow what they had found with each other to slip through his fingers. So, he hugged his beloved close, never wanting to ever let her go.
It was then that her eyes fluttered open.
Moments later, she glanced at him and smiled like Alice's Chesire Cat. "Good morning, my captain," she whispered. Then she pressed her right palm against his bare chest, rested her chin on the back of her hand, and gazed deeply into his eyes.
A silly grin now settled upon his face as he lost himself in her azure blue eyes and perhaps it was that in connection with the miracle of lying with such an absolutely stunning woman in all her naked glory that made him incredibly stupid at that particular moment in time.
"Alex, will you marry me?" he asked then immediately wondered if he'd actually had said that out loud.
When she regarded him with a look of wide-eyed astonishment, it was then that he realized he had, in fact, said that out loud.
"Um…Alex, darling, I understand if you need some time to think about—"
"Yes," she responded.
He blinked twice at that. "Excuse me, did you just say…'yes?'"
She smirked at him. "I believe I did, my captain." Then she gave him a supremely satisfied smile. "Yes, I will marry you, Malcolm Jackson."
He nodded slowly. "All right then," he said right before he drew her close and kissed her deeply.
She arched against him while her hands trailed over his torso just as the old two-D communicator chimed incessantly for their attention.
She uttered a frustrated groan, leaned toward her nightstand and flipped the voice-only switch on the terminal. "Schlein here."
"Good morning, Sector Administrator. I trust that you slept well last night."
She shot a curious glance at Malcolm before she responded to her caller. "Good morning to you, as well, Flag Lieutenant Stasheff! How may I be of assistance?"
"Ma'am, I beg your forgiveness for this intrusion on behalf of both Admiral de Ruyter and myself. The Admiral would like to invite both Captain Jackson and you to join her for a breakfast meeting. She has also invited Commanders Stenger and Dalle and Brigadier Roosevelt to join her as well. The Admiral would like the captain and the commanders to give a briefing about their experiences with the Colonial refugees and to recommend approaches we should take in dealing with both the Colonials and the Cylon infiltrators."
"That sounds like a splendid idea, Flag Lieutenant."
"Thank you, ma'am. If you don't mind, the Admiral would like for you to join her in the Admiral's Mess at 0900 hours."
She glanced at the wall chronometer. "In an hour then? Very well, Flag Lieutenant. Please inform the Admiral I look forward to dining with her, as well as her gallant officers." Suddenly, at that very moment, a wicked gleam flashed in her eye and she grinned playfully at Jackson. "Oh, and Flag Lieutenant? I suppose you intend to contact the good Captain Jackson to advise him his attendance is required in the Admiral's Mess."
"Actually, Sector Administrator," the young man responded, the humor plain in his voice, "if you wouldn't mind, I would be eternally grateful to you if you would kindly relay the Admiral's message to Senior Captain Jackson for me."
With an expression of utter amazement on her face, she replied woodenly, "Of course...think nothing of it, Flag Lieutenant."
"Thank you, ma'am!" he exclaimed. "Stasheff out."
Once she'd switched off the communicator, she slowly regarded her captain with a questioning look.
He simply shrugged. "Darling, the first lesson every member of the Fleet learns is there are no secrets aboard any ship."
She nodded. "Although that may be true, would it be asking too much to keep the details of our relationship between us, love?"
He rested his hand on her bottom and regarded her coyly. "Hey, I wasn't the one who yelled last night," he observed.
Immediately, he knew he would pay dearly for that remark when he spied the promise of swift and painful retribution in her eyes.
Battlestar Galactica – Down Below – Colonial Fleet
"Brother Cavil! Hello! Are you here?"
With a sigh of deeply intense annoyance, the Cylon who passed as a human lay clergyman, set his knife and apple down on top of his table inside his personal quarters. "One moment, please," he called out. Forcing himself up from his seat, he shuffled through the curtain that separated his quarters from the temple alcove and found one of the human Marines burdened down by a multitude of packages. "Private Alonzo—what is all this?"
The man's smiling face peeked out over some of the boxes he held in his arms. "Hello, Brother. I thought I'd bring down the supplies we received from the Earth people that the quartermaster had set aside for you."
Cavil was surprised by the fact that he had actually appreciated the thoughtfulness of one of the human pests he despised so frakking much. Forcing his face to display a grateful smile, he said, "Your kindness, Private, is a credit to both you and the gods. Here, let me help you with those."
While he plucked each box from the man's arms one by one, the Cylon did his best not to allow a scowl to show on his face. Well, if it wasn't as plain as the nose on my dear mother's frakking father's face, there's no denying the truth any longer, he raged inwardly. The 'Plan' had obviously gone to Hell in a frakking hand basket!
Reflecting back on the entire mess, he realized the train had started to derail from the tracks when his brothers and sisters who'd managed to stow away on this misbegotten caravan across the stars had utterly failed him. For instance, that whiny-ass Sleeper Eight had totally frakked up her both of her missions-namely destroying the ship's water supply and killing Adama. Oh, and not to be left out, the two blonde Sixes had screwed the pooch, as well.
The first had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by frakking up the frame job they'd planned so meticulously to take Gaius Baltar out of play. The other, although she had accomplished at least one of her goals by killing that sadistic cow, Helena Cain, had failed to take the Pegasus off the board. Worse, she'd helped the frakking humans nuke the only resurrection ship in the entire quadrant!
As for the Two, Three, Four and Five, he fumed, the less said about those frakkers, the better!
Mechanically, he took another package from the young man and placed it on the floor and continued his analysis of his frakked-up-beyond-belief situation.
Yes, things had definitely gone from bad to worse. First, Edmonson and her flunky, McCall, had unbelievably run into people in the middle of nowhere! Then, those people turned out to claim they're from frakking Earth!
"How can that be possible?" he muttered lowly.
"What was that, Brother?"
A shocked Cavil stared at the man and chided himself inwardly. Frak me! I can't believe I'd said that out loud!
He needed to be more careful than this! If the humans found out that he was a Cylon, he was a goner and he'd be taking the big dirt nap for good since there wasn't a resurrection ship in the vicinity, thanks to that frakking Six!
"I said," Cavil lied, "how can it be possible we've been so truly blessed? The Earth people have provided so much bounty it is a wonder to behold!"
"Yeah, you can say that again, Brother! Our long lost relatives have really pulled out all the stops to help us."
Cavil nodded fervently even though, inside, he sneered derisively at the human. You frakking idiot! If these people are really from Earth, they're Cylons like me!"
However, if these altruistic people were Cylons like Mama Ellen, how had they survived the apocalypse his mother and the other four had described to him?
Mysteries did not make for a happy machine. Cavil was way out of his comfort zone when he was forced to make decisions in the absence of relevant data. Of course, he knew that life, even for an AI at times, required action to be taken on the basis of wild-ass-guesses. However, whenever possible, he believed that it was far better to proceed after careful consideration of all of the pertinent information available to him.
Right now, though, data was in short supply. When every Cylon in the fleet had fallen except for the frakking Three who'd refused to contact him after their first disastrous meeting and the Six who called herself Dulceata, most of his sources of information had all but dried up.
More disturbing to him was the fact that he hadn't seen the Six for several days now, and, though he loathed to admit it, even to himself, he kind of missed having her around his place. That machine was hell on wheels in the sack and possessed a cynical world view that surprisingly rivaled his own. He supposed that's why they usually got along. Sure, at times, she could be a mean drunk and she had the disgusting habit of frakking any human as long as the pest walked on two legs; however, nobody, even a Cylon, was perfect. Just look at the disappointments that had piled up at the hands of his frakking younger siblings who'd all failed him!
He'd been extremely curious concerning her whereabouts but had refrained from seeking her out. After all, it wouldn't look good for a 'man of the gods' to ask about the comings and goings of a prostitute.
Well, he couldn't let this state of affairs continue. His parents hadn't learned their lesson. They needed to suffer far more than they already had in order to understand what he had tried to teach them about their misplaced love for humanity. And if these Earth people got in the way of that, he and the other Ones would have to find a way to stop them in their tracks. But first things, first. He had to find Dulceata.
"Brother Cavil? If it's okay with you, I've got to go now."
Cavil gave the man a faux smile. "I understand, Private. Before you go, though, I want to thank you for your thoughtfulness. Your kindness has touched my heart and I pray that the gods will always be with you."
"Thank you for your blessing, Brother. Take care and enjoy the gifts from our brothers and sisters on Earth!"
Moments after the young man had departed, Cavil snorted. "Private," he murmured lowly, "I may have to sustain this poor excuse for a body with their crap but I'll be damned to your non-existent Realm of Hades before I'd ever enjoy it!"
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Author's note: Thank you all for sticking with this story and I wish you all a very Happy New Year! - Norjc