Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. The term 'Terrans' comes from Stargate SG1. The idea for the weather technology comes from Star Trek.
Chapter 12: Mommy dearest
It had been over a weak since the admiral and the president had met one of the leaders of the new planet. It was called Terra Prime and the people living there called themselves Terrans. The fleet had sent surveying teams down to plan out where they would live. While Bill had been busy looking over recon reports on the soil and the building materials they could use, Laura had meetings with city planning comities.
After the latest meeting, Laura flew back to Galactica for the first time in a week, having spent most of her time on Colonial One. As the Raptor door opened, she was hoping to see Bill. Instead she found Dee. The young woman noticed the suddenly distraught expression that Laura had failed to conceal.
"Madame President, is something wrong?" she asked as Laura left the Raptor.
"No. I had hoped that the admiral would be meeting me though," Laura responded.
They headed down the hallway. "He would have, but D'Anna called. The Cylons want to know when they can settle on the planet too."
"Let's go to CIC then. I'd like to hear this one," the president stated.
By the time they reached CIC, the Cylons had ended the transmission. Bill turned and smiled at Laura. "Madame President."
"Admiral. I hear the Cylons want to settle," she began.
He snorted. "You just missed it. D'Anna is trying to call in that favor."
"I'm not surprised. What did you tell her?" Laura inquired, stepping closer to him.
"I said that we're still in the middle of negotiations with the planet's government and told her to give us more time. She didn't like it, but she agreed," Bill relayed.
"I just hope she doesn't try to go down and negotiate with Blackwell herself. I can't imagine that people who run from technology as much as he does will be too friendly toward Cylons," Laura mentioned.
Later they headed to their quarters. Both breathed sighs of relief as he shut the hatch behind them. Finally away from the world, he drew her into his arms, holding her securely. She hugged him back, basking in the comfort of his arms. As he pulled back to smile at her, she kissed him tenderly.
"It's been a long week," she remarked.
"Yes. But you're home now, and that's what matters," he said before kissing her soundly.
When the kiss ended, she gave him a pensive look. "There's a discussion that you and I need to finish."
He nodded. "Let's get dinner together first."
They headed toward the kitchen in search of something edible. They had enough ingredients to make algae dough, so Bill elected to make algae crisps while Laura made the dipping sauce. After adding a few spices to the sauce, she turned to face him. "Bill, what are we going to do about the baby?"
Taking a contemplative breath, he faced her. "I agree with Cottle that if we do much, the procedure might hurt you."
"Though it's more than a surprise, I don't mind keeping the baby. The bigger issue is going to be the fleet," she reminded, stirring the sauce.
He placed the rolled algae dough on a cookie sheet, then put the sheet in the oven. "They don't have to find out. You could limit public appearances."
"Easier said than done. If it's not the Quorum, Premiere Blackwell prefers to deal with me instead of you or Lee," she told him.
The hair on the back of Bill's neck bristled at the mentioning of the premiere. "That man is going to be nothing but trouble. I can feel it. The sooner you're not the one dealing with him, the better."
"It's a nice thought, but it doesn't solve the problem. The only solution I could see is resigning. We can't keep telling people I'm sick anymore. I'll just have to let them know that the cancer has gone into remission," she suggested.
"We'll figure something out," he concluded.
When the food was finished cooking, they sat on the couch to eat. Laura dunked one of the algae crisps into the sauce. "Not bad. We managed to have it not taste like algae."
He snorted. "It could be better, but at least I can eat it."
They ate in silence for a while before Laura's worrying got the better of her. "Bill, we still have a problem. If I just resign, it'll be the only news anyone thinks about."
"Then we need a diversion so that the people look the other way," he remarked.
She set her plate on the coffee table after finishing dinner. "What kind of diversion would be big enough?"
As his plate joined hers, a smile crossed his face. The solution was far simpler than he had imagined. Looking back to her, he took one of her hands in his, stroking the back of it. "What about a wedding?"
She thought for a moment. "It might work, but whose wedding would be that big?"
He chuckled lightly. "I guess I need to rephrase that. Laura Roslin, will you marry me?"
Staring at him wide-eyed, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. After a second attempt she found her voice. "Bill, that's not a diversion; that's insanity."
In that moment, he had a plan. "Actually it might just work. If you say you're resigning because you're marrying me in order to eliminate the conflict of interest…"
A smile spread over her face, her eyes lighting up. "That's the best idea I've heard since we found Earth."
He reached for her other hand. "Then what do you say?"
Her eyes misted as she nodded her head. "Yes. Bill Adama, I will marry you," she whispered.
Leaning closer, he kissed her soundly. Her hands left his, moving to encircle his neck. Then she kissed him passionately. As they parted for air, he had one last thing to say. "We'll have to tell Lee soon. And he'll need to know everything."
"I suppose," she responded. As they moved to put the dishes in the sink, she suddenly giggled.
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I was just picturing Lee's face when we tell him not one bit of news, but three," she answered.
Bill groaned. "That means he's going to find out that we've been doing more than just sharing quarters."
Laura looped her arms around his neck. "I'm sure he already suspects. But I think we've talked about Lee enough for the night, don't you?"
Before Bill could answer, Laura had kissed him deeply, dragging him back toward the rack. He soon forgot to worry about the next day's conversation.
Bill and Laura called Lee over to talk after they had eaten breakfast. Lee entered the quarters and sat in the chair with his cup of coffee while the admiral and the president sat on the couch. She had folded her hands in her lap and the two of them continued to exchange glances.
"How are you, Lee?" Laura inquired.
Lee raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I guess. Dee and I are back together. We've decided to give it another go."
"That's good," Bill remarked.
"Alright, what's up? Why am I here?" Lee probed.
Laura licked her lips, but speech had momentarily eluded her. She glanced back at Bill, who picked up the conversation. "We have something to tell you."
"You're getting married," Lee blurted out, not appearing surprised at all.
The other two stared at him wide-eyed. "How did you know?" Laura inquired.
"I saw you two before we found Earth. I'm not surprised. You're going to get some complaints from the fleet, but given how close the two of you have been for the past few weeks, it's really no surprise to anyone," Lee pointed out.
Laura shook her head and smirked. "And all this time I thought we had been so clever."
"Congratulations," Lee offered.
"I'm afraid there's a bit more to it than that, son," Bill began.
Lee looked from one to the other, raising an eyebrow. They can't possibly mean… can they?
Laura took a deep breath, facing Lee. "I'm pregnant."
Oh frak. Oh frak. Awkward at the very least. Lee blinked a few times. "Congratulations again then," he managed.
"And it gets worse. I'm pregnant because I'm a Cylon. I'm the last of the Final Five," she relayed.
This just brought 'awkward' to a whole new level. "Are you sure?" were the only words that escaped Lee's mouth.
"When I got sick down on the planet, right before that I saw a bright flash. Something on that planet must've been triggered the programming. What I threw up were mostly cancer cells. My body somehow purged itself of the cancer, and its affects. That's why I'm pregnant," Laura explained.
"What do you want from me?" Lee inquired.
Bill spoke. "We want you to be president. Laura will resign, insisting that she wants to marry me without the conflict of interest, or at least less of one. She can also use the excuse that she is recuperating from her cancer. Because we are the president and the admiral, the wedding will be a big enough diversion by itself not to have people probing too deeply into other reasons for her resignation."
Lee rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't see what you two are so worried about. Colonel Tigh was found to be a Cylon."
"Colonel Tigh wasn't leading anybody. I was," Laura answered.
Bill took one of Laura's hands in his. "If the people find out that they've been led by a Cylon, they might try to kill her. That's why they can't find out about the pregnancy. Do you understand now?"
Lee nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll do whatever you need me to do."
After the discussion with Lee, Laura left Galactica to speak with Tiberius. He greeted her with a smile and his customary handshake. "I must say, Madame President, that I hadn't expected to see you so soon."
"I have a matter of importance to discuss with you," she told him formally.
He led her to his office, then gave her a chair. "Are your people having problems with our technology?"
She shook her head as he took a seat. "No. That part's going well. Actually I'm here on a personal matter."
He studied her, but her face gave nothing away. "Something serious?"
"I'm afraid it is. I'm resigning," she admitted.
His professionalism slipped as his jaw fell open. But then he recovered himself. "You can't resign. I refuse to deal with anyone else!"
I feel like I'm dealing with a spoiled kindergartner, she mused. "Premiere Blackwell, though I am better, certain health complications prevent me from continuing to serve as president."
"Then you're coming with me to see one of our best physicians," he insisted as he took hold of her arm, nearly pulling her from the chair.
Seeing as she did not have much choice, she let him lead her down the desert-like path to the main hospital facility. They passed through the doors, seeing a woman with graying copper hair working a t a desk. Tiberius spoke to Laura. "This is Dr. Morgana Sorenson. She likes to keep her desk on the first floor to see if any emergencies come in. She's very particular about seeing to the more critical cases herself."
Morgana, at hearing her name mentioned, walked over to her new guests. "Premiere Blackwell, how can I assist you today?"
He looked back to Laura. "This is President Laura Roslin, of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Please see to her health concerns," he told the Dr.
"I'll return to Galactica after this appointment," Laura told him, He nodded gracefully before leaving them. She figured that despite the people's discomfort of technology, if they scanned her, they would not know what she was because they were not specifically looking for it.
Sorenson led her through a door to her left. Upon entering, she noticed a white bed-like structure with a mechanical arm hanging over it, holding a screen of sorts. "I know this must look totally bazaar to you. It's a scanning devise. You lie down and this screen scans your body. I see the information on that screen over there," Morgana explained, pointing to a pedestal. "Now what seems to be the problem?"
"I… need my immune system checked to see that it's recovering from my bout with cancer," Roslin explained.
"A full-body scan will be a good start then," Sorenson stated. Laura lied down on the table-bed as Sorenson set up the devise to pass over her. "You shouldn't feel a thing."
As the scan began, Laura had a few questions for the doctor. "Does Premiere Blackwell run your whole planet, or just this continent?"
Sorenson walked over to her pedestal. "Right now he runs the planet. Every eight years the people on the continents pick a new premiere to govern their particular continents. However, one of those leaders will rule the planet. It's part of an eight-year cycle also."
"I assume that Blackwell isn't near the end of his?" Roslin asked.
"He has another five years," Sorenson admitted.
"I've been told that the people living on this continent were an amalgamation of the 'Western World.' Is the rest of the planet like this?"
"Goodness no. The continent that we are on is called New Plymouth. It is home to survivors from what we called Western Europe, North and South America, and Australia. I can show you a map." Sorenson walked back to a drawer and rummaged through it before pulling out a rolled paper.
She unrolled it and walked it over to Laura. "As you can see from this, the Southern continent is New Beijing, where survivors from what we called Asia including India, and several islands went to. They speak a great many languages that are different from ours. The continent over there is New Zaire where the refugees from the old continent of Africa went. Lastly, the fourth continent, New Odessa, is home to the refugees from Eastern Europe."
"I would think that such a disaster as a nuclear war would help to unify people, but your people still sound fragmented," Laura pointed out.
Sorenson folded her hands. "One would hope, but they remain fragmented because of linguistics."
A realization occurred to Laura. "Just how many of your people survived? It seems that you have more people than I'd realized."
"We were a world of eight billion. In some ways we were fortunate that the building materials used were mixed with radiation-resistant materials in order to improve the structural integrity. About nine hundred thousand of us survived, and three fourths of them came to this world. Also at the time we were a space-bound people. It was only when we settled this planet that we gave up space travel," Sorenson explained.
"Are the other continents as… devoid of technology?"
"Everything around here is what you might call a bit backward, but this place is a bit more so." She glanced down at her screen, then back to Roslin a few times, furrowing her brow. "I never thought I'd see one alive," the doctor whispered. Laura was about to ask her if something was wrong when she spoke. "You know you're pregnant, right?"
Laura sat up, smiling slightly. "Yes."
"I can give you some prenatal vitamins if you would like," Sorenson responded.
"Thank you," Laura added.
Sorenson walked over to a shelf and handed a bottle to her. "I took a look at your immune system. Not only is it in good shape, your body shows no evidence of ever having had cancer. Now either your Dr. Cottle has a miracle cure, or there's more to this story than meets the eye."
Laura stood. "Thank you, Dr. Sorenson. I don't believe I need anything else."
The doctor moved in front of the door. "There is something that you need to know. Our scanning device has the ability to scan bone density, and the density of other material. You're not exactly human."
"I know. I'm a Cylon. I found this out recently," she explained.
Sorenson took a deep breath. "We called them organic Cyborgs. Most people don't know about them, or remember them. I do because the information on them is stored in medical files passed down from doctor to doctor."
"Does the premiere know about them?" Laura questioned.
The doctor shook her head. "No, and I promise that no one will find out from me. I plan to wipe out the memory of your visit here for my computer. If Blackwell finds out, you could be in danger. He hates technology."
A knock at the door ended their conversation. Sorenson opened it to find Cottle. "What are you doing here?"
He snorted. "Is that any way to greet the guy who's decided to share the nutritious properties of algae with you? It took me four hours to get a report together."
"She should've thrown you back out. You know how bad all of that stuff tastes," Laura teased Cottle.
"Very funny. I'm surprised to see you here though. Cheating on me with another doctor?" he retorted.
Laura laughed. "The premiere dragged me in for an examination. Neither one of us had much choice."
Cottle entered and shut the door behind him, turning to face Sorenson. "I hope you realize the need for secrecy then."
"Of course. I was just telling that to the president," Sorenson answered.
"And you have files somewhere on these organic Cyborgs?" Laura reminded.
Sorenson nodded. "It might take me a while to find them though."
Cottle glanced at the filing cabinets by the desk in the exam room. They were so stuffed that the drawers would not close. "Good luck finding anything in there."
The other doctor followed his gaze and sighed. "That's what I get for spring-cleaning. It was supposed to be a temporary situation when my other file cabinets were confiscated for government use. Fortunately what I need is not in that mess."
"I should be going. Is there anything else?" Laura inquired.
"No. As far as I can tell, you're healthy," Sorenson told her. Then she turned to Cottle. "I am supposed to bring you a few samples of our vaccines. I can bring the files with me tomorrow along with the vaccines when I drop by your… hospital unit."
"We call it 'Life Station,' and that would be fine," he replied.
(My thanks to WonderfallsonDaisies and carolann for reviewing :D)