Even in Death
Chapter TwoI shared quarters with a young kid – he was probably only eleven, twelve at most – and also few other women, they (meaning the crew) only let me stay here on the Galactica if I could help in any way possible, I told them I would take any odd job and that I had studied some science and I knew how a lot of the navigation worked, and then the first attack of the Cylons happened and it became obvious that I would be needed.
Since then I've been taking over shifts of officers who look like they're about to collapse, but only one's that I actually know how to do their job or that they can teach me quickly what else I need to do.
I'll give them sixty-six minutes of sleep before receiving that myself, though that had been the plan; it's changed a lot. I was in the CIC, but I was constantly keeping my mind locked down to keep their thoughts away from me, which gave me extra work to do. I longed for my bed, longed for it more then I longed to shower.
And I stunk. Not that anyone really cared anymore. People were that tired that smells were on the bottom of the list in what to care about. Survival was of course on the top. Sleep second, followed closely by food, water and toilet. Depending on how you felt at that moment in time, alcohol was sometimes added in the betweens of the list.
"Hey, Eve right?" I was shaken awake, I looked at the clock, after a few seconds I realised I'd accidentally had five extra minutes of sleep. Frak. That was bad, I needed to help people. "Can you take over?" I nodded sleepily to the person as I stumbled back to the CIC; it was those few moments before an attack. And sure enough, when I arrived, so did the Cylons.
Adrenaline shot through everyone the second they appeared and in those moments where the Cylons were attacking, we worked hard, hard as we could. I spoke into the intercom relaying what Admiral Adama was saying to me, to the crew. "Hit on starboard bow." I blinked furiously at the screen, not understanding what it was telling me as I tried to re-read it again.
"They've started launching radars!" Someone shouted behind me and I blinked, realising that they were. I listened to the radio, making sure everything was fine, I couldn't tell with all the noise if someone had been shot down yet, though I hoped that they hadn't, we can't bear to loose a single one. We would sleep when we're dead, and we're not dead yet so we don't need to sleep.
"Colonial 1 has jumped."
"Bring in the fighters."
"Apollo, this is Galactica, come on home." I said into the microphone as I watched the screen. It was almost over; I would be able to sleep soon enough. I had probably had a lot more sleep then some of the other people, but it didn't matter. I was tired, so very tired. The pulling at my body started and I realised that the Faster Then Light jump had started.
I receive a bad reaction to every FTL jump I've ever been through – and I've been through a lot of them lately – my body always shut down for a second and it took me a few seconds when I was wide awake to build up my mental wall again. It took me a lot longer when I was tired. By the time I had re-built my wall up once more, they had started the clock again.
Thirty-two minutes and forty-five seconds, well in reality there was eighteen minutes of sleep I could grab there, and I would take every chance I get, to get more sleep. I was no longer needed, so I walked back to my bed and closed my eyes, keeping the wall up and shut. It took a minute to check I wasn't tied to anyone, but it was far better then having my dreams been invaded by someone, not to mention it tired me more if I allowed that to happen.
I slept again, a few minutes more then I had intended to. I walked slowly back to CIC and set up post again. I ran over the basics before looking at the time, two minutes. The fighters were ready as I placed my headphone on and spoke into the microphone to warn them. "Forty-five seconds until expected fight."
I listened to one of the other people in the CIC mention that there were only three ships remaining to jump, we were slower and one of these times the Cylons were going to beat us by just a second. Because one second was all it took.
Thirty seconds remaining. I took a deep breath and smiled wearily at the computer screen and anyone who may, by any chance, be looking at me. I bit my tongue to get an early flow of adrenaline and then I stretched my muscles. Five seconds now. I flexed my fingers, nervous as the fighters, who had already left Galactica, were behind the line, waiting for the arrival of our nemeses. And then it happened, and they arrived and a part of me felt like begging to die. But I tried to remain strong as I followed what the Admiral and the XO were saying to me, and I retold the message back to Apollo.
I was so tired now that my eyes were crossing over and trying to fall asleep. I pinched myself as hard as I could to see the screen again, but before I could, I heard someone tell me to call the fighters in. I murmured it to them, and there was "check" from Apollo as they all flew back in.
The Cylons launched missiles once more and I felt my stomach drop and my eyes go black for a minute as all the thoughts and begging of everyone in my area, slammed into me at once as we went through another FLT launch.
When my thoughts collected again I heard angry voices, turning around I saw Dee, tired as hell, looking as though something awful has happened. "-A Cylon may have destroyed them before they jumped or-"
"-Or fifty other things…" I zoned out after that. We had lost a ship. This wasn't good; in fact it was fraking horrible. I wondered which ship we had lost as I went over everything, taking my headphones off to catch up on more sleep. I felt like sliding under the table and sleeping there, but I knew that I would get into someone's way.
I blinked as I staggered back to my bunk. Only one thought was running through my head before I closed my eyes, we lost a ship we lost people.
When I opened my eyes again, I realised it had been forty-five minutes since I had fallen asleep. I woke up, alarmed, scared that I had left someone else to do my post when it was still my time slot. I nearly ran back to the CIC to see a lot of people working. They were working slowly, but slightly happier.
I glanced at the countdown, "Plus fifty minutes?" I whispered.
"After we lost the Olympic Carrier, the Cylons haven't arrived back in the usual thirty-three minutes." Someone muttered, Dualla, or Dee as everyone called her.
"Do you think they were tracking it?" She shrugged, "Well it doesn't matter, I'm just glad that they haven't come back."
"Yet." She ended and I completely agreed with her. I was glad that they hadn't come back yet.
-
I was woken up suddenly, and I realised instantly why. Something had happened; the atmosphere had changed from 'at ease' to 'tense'. I went back to the CIC, and the clock was at fourteen minutes, and it was counting down. "Were we attacked again?" I asked as I took the post off of someone else, who looked thankfully at me.
"No, the Olympic Carrier returned." They said, handing me the headset, "Admiral thinks that it's a bad omen." I nodded, understanding. I assumed that Admiral Adama thought that since when we were safe, the Olympic Carrier had been "shot-down" at least that's what we had thought, but now since it had returned, it is only logic that says that maybe, just maybe, the ship has been tagged and followed by Cylons.
Orders were spoken to me and I relayed them to Apollo, "Apollo, Galactica, jam all communications with Olympic Carrier."
"Copy that." We watched in silence for a time span of four minutes before Dee received a message from Boomer.
"Admiral, message from Boomer, Olympic Carrier is refusing all orders and continuing to the Galactica." I held my breath, awaiting his order. There was a paused moment before he asked to be directly communicating to them. I handed it over and watched as he asked to destroy the Olympic Carrier.
"What?" I asked loudly, though no one really noticed. Though after that word spilled out, I immediately shut my mouth, it was his decision not mine. And I already knew that everyone was thinking the same thing, I should know. But as a team we all watched in pain as Cylons arrived. I turned back to my screen; my eyes begin to ache of the beginning of tears. Over thirteen hundred people were on that ship and Adama wanted to blow it up.
"Radiation-" someone shouted but I blinked my tears back so that I could see my screen.
"Where's it coming from?" I had to blink hard to understand what I was reading.
"The ah… Olympic Carrier sir." I murmured in surprise. Adama met my eyes when I turned face him and he nodded at me. My bottom lip quivered, as I knew what his only option was now. In that instant, I had to know if there was anyone on there, maybe I could find closure if I knew that there wasn't
I took a deep breath as I heard the Admiral give the orders to Apollo. And just a few moments after, I projected all of my energy into focusing on the large target that was the Olympic Carrier. I hit a wave of emotions and thoughts, and I couldn't pull anything out of the mess, I quickly pulled back and went to shout to them to say stop, that there were people on there.
But it was too late. By the time I had pulled back, which I had done too fast causing me to spin for a second, Apollo had already pulled the trigger, Starbuck following by a few seconds. In pain, we watched as the Olympic Carrier, holding over thirteen hundred souls, was destroyed.
-
Twenty-four hours and no Cylons, twenty-four hours since we blew up the ship. I've slept a lot of it away. I feel so much better now, I'm sure a lot of people do. But I'd give so much back, even my own life, to have those thirteen hundred people alive again. I pretended earlier, before I went to sleep, that maybe I had accidentally hit the wrong ship with my mind.
But even I don't fully believe that.
I sighed again as I rolled over and tried to relax. I didn't smell anymore, my head didn't hurt and I wasn't so desperate for sleep.
But I was in pain, not physically, but emotionally. If I had tried earlier, I could have saved them, all thirteen hundred of them. Then maybe I wouldn't have to be here, in my bunk, crying over the souls of people I never met.
"Hey, ah, Eve right? I'm going to catch some sleep, Dee's taken my post though." I nodded and rolled back over and tried to sleep, tried to pretend that everything was ok that no one had been hurt. But I couldn't believe that. I was guilty with anyone else who could have, in any way, stopped that from happening.
But I felt most at fault, I had known without a doubt that there were people there and even though the Cylons haven't attacked since that moment we destroyed the Olympic Carrier, it doesn't matter. There were too many people on there for it to be ok. I don't think even one person to have died would have been ok.