Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel.
Chapter 16: War games
After leaving the reception, Cottle and Morgana had staggered through the quiet streets all the way to her house, which was only a few blocks away. She fumbled with the key as he helped her remain standing. Once inside, she flopped down on the bouncy blue couch, laughing again. "What's so funny now?" Cottle asked, closing the door.
"You've no… idea… how… long it's been… since I… brought… a man… home with me. I must… be out… of my mind." Then she took a deep breath and stopped laughing. "I'm sorry. Here you are, having asked me if I'll have regrets about this and I don't say anything until we get to my house."
He smirked at her. "It's alright. Mind if I use the head?"
She burst out laughing again. "I… have no… bloody… idea… what you… just said. What… head… are… you… talking about? My head… is… an absolute… mess right now… so you… really should… use… your… own mind."
"I meant may I use your bathroom? 'Head' is military for 'bathroom,'" he clarified.
Still laughing, she pointed to a darkened doorway on the other side of the room. He found a bathroom and by the time he emerged, he did not hear her laughing anymore. Instead he found her sleeping soundly on the couch. Sighing, he picked her up. "Can't have you sleeping there. It is your house after all."
He carried her to what he assumed was her bedroom in the small house. Then he set her down on the bed and removed her shoes. He pulled the bedspread over her like a sleeping bag. Then he left for the couch. He slid his shoes off, as well as his suit jacket, and grabbed a few extra pillows from the other side of the couch. With the suit jacket on top of him, he stretched out on the couch and went to sleep.
When he awoke the next morning, he checked on Morgana to find her still asleep. Then he grabbed his cigarette pack and lighter from his pocket before stepping outside. The brisk morning air was a stark contrast from Life Station, but it smelled considerably better and it lacked the chill that the breeze on New Caprica had carried.
He took a moment to look at the area in the morning light. The row of tract houses looked similar to the ones that the Colonials had been directed to build, complete with a small front lawn and a few trees. He could hear someone's dog barking and even a rooster crowing, though it was well past sunrise. As he walked outside, he felt a slight tremor from the ground. Must be a fault line nearby, he reasoned. He stared down at the half-used cigarette in his hand, realizing that for all the years he had been smoking, it was starting to lose its appeal.
Later when he returned to Morgana's house, he wandered into her bathroom and spotted a bottle of blue mouthwash. Using enough of it to wash away the smoky smell, he returned to the couch. After a moment, he heard a moan from the bedroom.
"Oh, it feels like the nine levels of hell have all crammed into my head," Morgana groused.
He heard her enter the bathroom and gargle after a while. When she entered the living room, she wore a simple blue blouse and jeans. Cottle nodded to her. "If you don't mind me in your kitchen, I might be able to make an old hangover remedy."
She nodded, then winced from the pain. "Certainly. It's right over…" she trailed off, turning her gaze back to him. "You're actually here!"
"I slept on the couch," he replied.
The two headed toward the kitchen, Morgana massaging her temples. "I made a complete fool of myself last night, didn't I?"
"You were drunk, and I made sure that you got back to your home safely. Anything you said that you didn't want to say, you weren't in your right mind at the time," Cottle amended.
She gestured toward the cabinets, letting him search her kitchen freely. "I feel like such an idiot. I practically threw myself at you."
"Don't beat yourself up. I wasn't exactly on my best behavior either," he pointed out.
Morgana sat down on one of her sturdy, yet spindly kitchen chairs, made of the same composite recycled materials as the premiere's desk. "It's not that I don't find you attractive, Doctor, it's simply that I should have behaved better."
"Makes two of us," he remarked, handing her a glass containing a brownish liquid that she tried not to stare at. "Hold your nose when you drink it, and whatever you do, don't taste it."
Instead of drinking it, she set it down on the table, taking his as well and placing the glass next to hers. "You didn't take advantage of me last night, and for that I should thank you."
"You don't have to-" she cut him off with a sudden kiss. Grabbing his shoulders, she kissed him deeply.
Then as quickly as she had initiated the kiss, she pulled back and whacked him in the back of the head. "You used my mouthwash!"
"I had one cigarette this morning, and I didn't want to smell like smoke," he countered.
"Bloody scoundrel," she grumbled, reaching past him, drinking the anti-hangover concoction.
He followed suit, both of them mirroring the other's expression of disgust at the end. "I guess holding your nose doesn't work completely."
She grabbed an empty cup and walked out of the kitchen, gesturing for him to follow. Reaching the bathroom, she poured mouthwash into a cup already sitting by the sink. Then she poured some of the liquid into the cup from the kitchen and grudgingly handed it to him. After they had removed the taste of the anti-hangover drink from their mouths, he headed toward the front door.
"I need to get back to Galactica," Cottle mentioned.
Morgana placed a hand on the doorknob, but hesitated to open it. "I don't want you to think that I'm always so inhospitable. Why don't you join me for dinner next week?"
He smirked. "So I'm forgiven for the mouthwash?"
She chuckled. "For now. There are things you and I should discuss when we are both of sound mind, and free of headaches."
Taking her other hand in his, he kissed the top of it. "Agreed."
Roughly two months after the wedding, Octavio met with Tiberius privately. "What have you brought me?" the premiere asked.
Octavio showed the man a grouping of pictures that he had developed himself. "They look alike. I couldn't believe it, so I took pictures."
Tiberius eyed the mess of tall blondes, short brown-haired women, and scruffy men with suspicion. "What have you heard?"
"I was able the blend in with their people because everyone thought I was from a different ship. These… others are called 'Cylons' and they are part human, part machine," Octavio explained.
"They've double crossed us," Tiberius growled.
Octavio's brow furrowed. "Do you think they could be responsible for the increasing ground tremors?"
The premiere clenched his fists as his rage began to boil. "I wouldn't put it past them. Find me that two-way radio device that they gave us."
"Sir, did you want to address the Legislature on this matter?"
He shook his head. "No. I want to let those Colonials know that we know first."
Most of the Colonials had moved down to the planet's surface, a few remaining onboard ships to decide what should be done with them. Colonial One remained the meeting place of the Quorum while their own cities were still under construction, and Galactica was still home to Bill, Laura, Saul, and Caprica.
After formally resigning as president, Laura had taken a new position as counselor to the president, a job which required regular meetings with Lee, but not the Quorum. She and Lee sat on the couch in the quarters that she shared with his father, going over the civilians' progress.
"As you can see, the basic housing units are almost completed. We should have running water down there in a couple of weeks," Lee mentioned.
"I'm glad to hear that. I've talked with your father and he's still not sure what he wants to do with the fleet's ships," Laura stated.
Lee nodded thoughtfully. "Even though the rest of the Cylon forces were wiped out when the Hub was destroyed, he'll probably want to keep a few ships around for patrol. Have you had a chance to look at the weather system report?"
She sipped her glass of water as she thumbed through a few other folders. "I haven't quite finished it yet, but Chief Tyrol's report was one of the more interesting ones in the stack. The weather system is part of an environmental management program, using caves under the planet's surface. I have to wonder, if the original founders who landed on Terra Prime two hundred years ago used the caves for that, I wonder what other technology of theirs remains."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they had stuff hidden all over the place," Lee commented.
Suddenly the phone rang. Laura reached over to get it. "Adama." She caught Lee's smirk out of the corner of her eye. Since she had married Bill, Laura took great delight in answering the phone with her new last name.
Bill's voice sounded tense on the other end though. "Laura, we've got a problem. The premiere is demanding to speak to us. Much as I hate to give that paranoid dictator time of day, something tells me that if we don't talk to him, it could be bad news."
"I'm guessing that he's coming here and it's me that he specifically plans on yelling at the most," she responded.
"He's not speaking with you alone. Lee and I will both be there."
The meeting occurred one hour later in Adama's quarters. Lee fixed the blue tie of his pinstripe suit for the fifth time. "That's becoming a bad habit," Laura teased.
"At least I'm not breaking pencils," Lee joked, noticing the two halves on the desk in front of her.
She brushed a few crumbs from the pencil off her crimson skirt. With a matching jacket and loose black blouse, her pregnancy was not as visible as long as she remained seated at the desk. A moment later the hatch opened and the admiral stepped through, followed by a scowling Tiberius. He looked directly at her. "Why didn't you meet me?"
Folding her hands on the desk in front of her, she looked back at him calmly. "It's been a long day, Tiberius, and I'm tired. Furthermore, I'm no longer the president."
Tiberius looked from her to Lee, then to Adama. "You tricked us."
Lee stepped forward. "Premiere Blackwell, would you mind being more specific?"
Glaring at him, Tiberius turned back to Laura. "We let your people stay on our planet. You had the audacity to unleash numerous amounts of technological depravity. You sit there calmly, knowing full well what you have done. Don't deny it. I had spies. You let those things you call 'Cylons' invade my planet!"
"Tiberius, I sincerely apologize for any deception or betrayal that you might feel. Knowing your hatred for technology, the only way to allow them to live on the planet as well was to mix them with our own people," Laura explained.
He shook his head, the color red once again seeping into his face in his rage. "That's not good enough, Roslin! You deliberately allowed robots onto my planet. From what little I understand of your people, you left some sort of disaster caused by these same robots, so why are you helping them?"
Laura took a deep breath. "You've made a valid point. I should explain that the Cylons currently with us have rebelled against their own kind, wanting to help humankind. It has taken us years to come to these conclusions, but because you have asked, you will listen to what I'm telling you. Difficult as it may be to accept, they are people. They have chosen to be people instead of machines. They only live one life, like us. They can reproduce, like us." She tried to ignore Adama's raised eyebrow at her statement as she continued. "They have thoughts that are their own, emotions, dreams. They have flaws, like us. They make mistakes. My point is that despite what so-called intelligence your spies have collected, the truth is that they really aren't so different from us."
Tiberius snorted. "Some of your own people don't even believe that."
"You're right, but the fact remains that they are people, who actually have their own representatives," she continued.
"In two weeks, I have my annual meeting with the Legislature, which includes my chairmen and representatives from the other three continents. You have two weeks to get these… these… Cylons off my planet before I throw your own people out. You've been nothing but trouble since you arrived!" he spat.
"We fixed your weather system," Lee pointed out.
"And while you were down there, you probably initiated the earthquakes we've been having!" Tiberius retorted.
Laura took a pencil and jotted down a few ideas. "Tiberius, perhaps it would be best if you met with their leader. We could all discuss the matter on Galactica like civilized people."
The premiere rolled his eyes. "I don't care what their leader is programmed to tell me! Why should I listen?"
"If we find the source of your earthquakes, will you agree to listen?" Laura offered.
Tiberius paced back and forth a few times. "The last time made a deal with you, I ended up with robots on my planet. Give me one good reason why I should trust anything you say."
She folded her hands on the desk again. "Because right now, we have more weapons than you do."
He scoffed. "You'd nuke your own people?"
At that she lost her patience and stood, just enough to press her hands onto the desk, not standing straight up, her slouched possition serving to hide her condition from the premiere. The others in the room recognized that she meant business. She looked at Tiberius over the top of her glasses. "No. But if you force my people to leave, I don't have a problem nuking yours."
Tiberius snorted. "Unfortunately, you signed a treaty."
"Which will only function if all parties agree that peace is the intended outcome and the best solution. If you recall, both sides made agreements that day. We spied on you, we got caught, and we apologized. You spied on us, and now you come here threatening us. We have fixed what we promised to fix in order to stay on that planet. We've honored our part of the deal. Can you say the same?" she countered.
The premiere studied her face, then glanced over at Lee, as if looking for confirmation on how serious she was. The younger man nodded and Tiberius slowly looked back to Laura, as if understanding where he stood with her for the first time. "It seems that I may have made a miscalculation. I will agree to speak with the Cylon leader."
He left shortly, allowing Lee to escort him to a Raptor. As he left, Laura meandered over to the couch easing herself down into the comfortable leather. "That man is beginning to annoy me."
"I had no idea," Bill teased. Then he turned serious as he handed her another glass of water. "Would you really nuke those people?"
She took a sip of water, closing her eyes for a moment. "No, but I wouldn't mind aiming for his house. What do you suppose will happen when D'Anna finds out that the Cylons aren't welcome on Terra Prime?"
Bill joined her on the couch. "She's not going to just pack up and leave. Those two will likely fight like the children we know them to be."
"It's strange that he has no security detail," Laura pointed out.
"On the planet he has spies. Maybe he doesn't need one," Bill suggested.
Laura smirked. "Or maybe no one wants to volunteer."
He smiled back. "That too."
She shifted as the baby moved. As she placed her hand on her abdomen, Bill looked at her with concern. "It figures that when I'm tired, she's active," Laura commented, taking one of Bill's hands so that he could feel the baby kick.
He raised an eyebrow. "How do you know it's not a boy?"
"Dream," she said simply.
"What if it turns out to be one of each?" he mentioned, taking his hand back.
She crossed her arms, glaring at him. "William Adama, if I'm having twins, you are never allowed to sleep again."
He threw his hands up in defense, chuckling lightly. "I surrender."
Scooting closer to him, she kissed him softly. "You're lucky, Mr. Adama, that you can put me in a good mood."
Framing her face with his hands, he returned the kiss soundly. "And I like the way you've been answering our phone, Mrs. Adama."
In that moment the rest of the world was pushed outside as they had what could pass for a normal quiet dinner, a reading session, and a trip to bed.
(A/N: When I watched "The Hub," I thought that the bad Cylons had all died. I was surprised in the later half of season 4 to see that it wasn't true. In my story the bad Cylons were destroyed when the Hub was blown up)
(My thanks to WonderfallsOnDaisies, McGonagallFan, RonWeasleyissmiling, carolann, and Mythtern13 for reviewing :D)