Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel.
Chapter 10: International incident
The realization of the dream caused her to suddenly sit up in the bed. She glanced at the clock, seeing that in ten minutes she would have to get up anyway. She crawled out of bed, feeling lightheaded when she was standing. Trying to recall what she had eaten last night for dinner did not quell the feeling of nausea that continued to creep over her. She steadied herself at the desk long enough to hear him roll over.
She wandered into the bathroom, flicking on the light. As she removed the headscarf and turned the water on for the shower, she stared at her reflection, as if seeking answers to the many questions that swarmed through her mind. I can't be pregnant, can I? How in the world am I going to tell Bill about this part of the dream? How is any of this possible? Thinking that anything close to a hot shower would worsen the nausea, she used lukewarm water for her shower.
Bill woke to the sound of his alarm. As he turned it off, his eyes scanned the room for Laura. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the shower. He called the mess hall for coffee before heading into the bathroom to shave. Laura emerged from the shower, almost bumping into him in her rush to find her toothbrush.
"I'm sorry, Bill. I didn't see you," she stated.
He smiled at her, rinsing off his razor. "That's okay. How are you this morning?"
"A little nauseous, but stable," she remarked.
It was then that he took full notice of her hair. Usually he was the first one up, so he usually saw her with the headscarf or her wig later in the morning. "Laura, your hair..."
She glanced at her reflection. "Yes. Strange how it's coming back so quickly."
"I've ordered coffee. If you start feeling worse, just knock on the shower door," he stated.
Giving him a small smile, she responded. "Thanks, Bill."
He took his shower while she dressed and sat at his desk, looking through the reports. The latest reconnaissance revealed there to be people on the planet. She tried to drink the coffee, but after a few sips the offending drink threatened to make a reappearance. She was resting her head in her hands when Bill emerged from the bathroom. He rested a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to meet his concerned gaze. "I'll be alright. Things just don't seem to be settling down this morning."
"I think you should go back to Life Station. Thoresine doesn't take this long to pass through your system," he reminded.
"I know. It's just that-" the phone rang, interrupting her.
Bill reached for it. "Adama."
"It's Jack."
The clock by Bill read 0645. "Don't you ever sleep?"
Cottle snorted. "Very funny. I know it's not 0700 yet, but I've got the results from the blood tests."
"And?" Bill stated, looking at Laura.
"And the two of you had better get down here," the doctor ordered.
Bill hung up the phone and faced Laura. "That was Jack. He's got the results and he wants us down there."
"Then by all means, let's go," Laura added.
As soon as they passed through the doors of Life Station, Cottle walked over to them. "My office," was all he said. He held the office door open, allowing Bill and Laura to sit down. "I'll be right back. I have to see to a patient and make sure he doesn't have a broken collar bone."
Cottle closed the door behind him, leaving Laura and Bill to themselves. She placed her hands in her lap, folding and unfolding her fingers. "We didn't talk much yesterday," she began.
He studied her with concern. "What else do you want to tell me?"
"I spoke with Baltar and Tory before you brought Zarek," she paused, facing him. "You were right about Baltar. I asked him if he slept with Callie. He said 'once.' And Tory, I was very direct, asking her about Callie's death. She got angry and stormed out. I think it's very possible that she killed Callie," Laura mentioned.
"If that's true, then we've solved at least one problem," Bill concluded.
Laura rested her hands in her lap, studying them. Then she looked over at Bill. "Are you going to tell him?"
Bill sighed heavily. "I don't know. He took her suicide badly. I don't know if he'll take her murder any better."
"If he learns the truth, perhaps he won't think that she killed herself because of him," Laura mentioned.
The door opened and Cottle entered. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Kid dislocated his shoulder playing a new form of pyramids. I've got your charts here."
"Have they poisoned me? Is that what this is about?" Laura questioned, pensively looking at the charts.
Cottle picked up a chart from his desk. "I wish it was that simple. How are you feeling this morning?"
"Nauseous, green," Laura answered.
The doctor sighed, looking from Laura to Bill. "Here's the problem: what I've got on this chart should be impossible. What I'm quickly learning from you, Laura, is that nothing these days is impossible. There is no easy way to tell you this. You're pregnant."
She stared at Cottle, wide-eyed. "How- well I don't exactly mean how, but what…"
"We know that your body rebooted back to a healthier state. We just didn't realize how far," Cottle mentioned. "The nausea you've been experiencing isn't from the Thoresine. It's most likely morning sickness."
Laura closed her eyes, unsure how to process what she had just been told. Her hand sought out Bill's. He grasped her hand and looked back at Cottle. "What are our options?"
Cottle set the chart back on his desk. "That's where it gets tricky. I know abortion is illegal at the moment, but under the circumstances, I did consider recommending it."
Bill raised an eyebrow. "But you're not now?"
"Frankly her physiology has changed and performing a procedure like that would have unknown consequences. I don't want to risk her health if I don't have to. At the moment it would be less of a risk for her to carry the baby to term," Cottle advised.
Laura looked up at him. "There's only one problem with that. Anyone who knows anything about Diloxin knows that it destroys the body's reproductive capabilities. If the people find out that I'm pregnant, they'll know what else I am."
"Which brings me right back to the first conclusion I came to when I saw the outcome of the blood tests: we have a problem," Cottle mentioned.
Laura had another question for the doctor. Slowly removing her wig, she revealed her own hair. "Why is my hair coming back so quickly?"
Cottle blinked, feeling her hair. "I think I can explain it, at least partly. First of all, unlike the other Cylons, your physiology was subject to human rules until recently. The hair growth might be a sort of regeneration. Secondly, it's nature that when a woman's pregnant, her hair grows more. Probably because of the other changes with you, it's just happening faster. Looks like you'll have two years' worth of hair growth by the end of the month."
"That means I'm going to be hiding my hair under my shirt collars for a while," she concluded.
As the phone rang, he stepped out of his office to answer it. "Hello? What? Just a minute." Abruptly he ducked back into the office. "Admiral, it's for you."
Adama stood, taking the receiver. "Adama."
"It's Starbuck, sir. I made it to the hanger. We've got a problem. Some people on that planet saw us. They had all five of us, but they let me go so I could tell you that they're detaining our people for questions," Kara relayed.
"Frak," Bill exclaimed.
Laura walked over to him. "What happened?"
"The people on that planet are holding the team for questions," he told her.
"What do they want?" Laura asked.
He turned back to the receiver. "What else did they say?"
"They want to meet with my leaders, face-to-face, on the surface," Kara answered.
"Starbuck, meet me at my quarters," he stated.
"Aye, sir," she responded before ending the conversation.
He looked back to Laura. When words failed him for a moment, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "You and I will finish our conversation later. Right now I'm going to give Lee a call so that he can join us as Kara explains what's going on."
He simply smiling, he kissed her forehead. "Good idea."
She called Colonial One, locating Lee. Soon all four of them were seated in the admiral's quarters. "Kara, what's this all about? Who did you find?" Lee probed.
"A bunch of humans. The ones who kidnapped us actually speak our language. The planet's full of settlements, but it's surprisingly low-tech," Kara began.
"Is that why they want to meet face-to-face?" Laura inquired.
The blonde woman nodded. "They have radios, but they're really limited to short-range communication."
"What exactly happened down there?" Bill questioned.
"The five of us were checking out a structure that looked like one of the few pieces of technology on the planet. With the exception of the hospitals, they use less technology than we do. What we found looked the part of a ship, but somebody converted it into a weather shield. It protects the settlement from extreme weather conditions," she mentioned.
"I think they want to know how and why you got caught," Lee interjected.
Kara crossed her arms in front of her. "I was getting to that. Anyway, we were looking at the structure when a group of guys came out of a building. They were wearing black uniforms and we think they were the local police. They started asking us all these questions. While they were talking to us, one of them found our Raptor. They got pretty ticked when they realized we weren't from their planet. They dragged us over to this warehouse and then brought some government official to look at us. I don't think they want to hurt us. They just don't know what to make of us."
Adama processed Kara's words thoughtfully as a plan formed in his mind. Then he faced Laura. "It would be safer if I go down there representing the military and Lee comes with me to represent the government. That way you're safe up here."
She opened her mouth to protest, but then sat back against the couch. "You're right. But I'd still like to know what's going on down there. Contact me when you can."
"So we have a go, sir?" Kara asked.
Bill nodded. "Yes, we have a go."
(My thanks to McGonagallFan, kywildcat, and carolann for reviewing :D)