Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Mr. Cantrell makes a cameo appearance.
Chapter 22: Drawing battle lines
Lee came by the house the next morning to tell Laura what the Quorum had decided. "They voted to contact the government, without the consent of the premiere, if it's possible. They don't want us dealing with him anymore and they feel that we should all talk, government to government."
"It's a good plan for starters, but the problem will be contacting the other members of a government that we know very little about," Laura pointed out.
"That's where Dr. Sorenson comes in. I'm sure she's got some ideas. At least she might know how to contact them," Lee suggested.
Laura looked over at Bill. "It's worth a shot," he remarked.
Though the continent had a telephone system, the colonials were having difficulty establishing the telephone lines. Bill used the two-way radio again. "Jack, is Dr. Sorenson there?" the admiral asked.
He heard a snort on the other end. "What kind of clinic do you think I'm running? Of course she's here. Hold on."
A moment later Bill heard Morgana's voice. "Hello Admiral, what can I help you with?"
"Can you spare some time to stop by?" he began.
"Is Laura alright?" she asked immediately.
"Yes. It's not a medical problem; it's a political problem, but I think you can help us. Let's just say that circumstances have changed," Bill mentioned.
"I'll come immediately," she finished.
While they waited for Morgana, Laura and Bill told Lee what they had found in the library basement. "So all this time Tiberius, and probably his relatives, have been keeping the people in the dark about their technology?" Lee inquired.
Laura nodded. "That pretty much sums it up."
Lee studied her. "You're planning something, aren't you?"
She folded her hands in her lap. "I'm going to tell their people, and ours, the truth about Cylon technology."
He raised a skeptical eyebrow in a gesture that reminded her of his father. "It sounds like you're about to put yourself at risk."
"I will do what needs to be done," she stated.
Before Lee could scrutinize her decision further, there was a knock at the door. Bill opened it and Morgana stepped inside followed by Cottle. "It was a slow day at the clinic, and I figured that if you're asking her to do something questionable, I might as well find out now," Cottle groused.
"We need to know how to contact the government, without the premiere's interference," Lee mentioned.
Morgana smirked. "Is that all? I can contact them by phone if I manage to get back into my office to find the phone numbers."
Cottle faced her. "I think I've got the perfect excuse too. Tell them there's some sort of cough circulating among the Colonials and you need to retrieve a book that could tell you if you've got an epidemic or not. I'll come with you to make it look convincing."
"I suppose we could try it," Morgana concluded.
Passing through the gate, they navigated the streets back to her office building. They paused just outside of the main doors. "You sure you can just come back here? Aren't you blacklisted?" Cottle asked.
Morgana looked around her before answering. "If Betsy is still working at the front desk, then there won't be a problem. Despite being fired, I should still have a few friends here."
They entered, walking casually so as not to create a disturbance. Only a few people glanced up. She approached the front desk and found a plump blonde woman organizing different clipboards. "Betsy, what are you doing?"
"I have to arrange Dr. Kishner's patients in alphabetical order, of course," the young woman replied. Then she looked up. "Dr. Sorenson! It's good to see you. What are you doing here though?" she whispered.
Morgana leaned closer. "We need to retrieve a book from my old office. Several Colonials have come down with some sort of cough and I need the book to see whether it can be seasonal, or an epidemic."
Betsy looked at the people sitting in the waiting room, and then she turned her head back and forth. "Dr. Kishner has been your replacement. He's an arrogant numbskull who hates filing. He also hates technology as much as the premiere. Because of those things, he hasn't been near your office. He demands that I organize all the patient files that are still in your office and put them in alphabetical order. And nobody's touched your computer, so your passwords will probably be the same."
"Thanks Betsy, you're a lifesaver," Morgana remarked, patting Betsy's shoulder before heading into the hallway, motioning for Cottle to follow her.
"Sounds like you've been missed," he told her as they walked along.
"Unfortunately being missed won't get my job back," she responded.
"I thought you worked out in front at a desk. I didn't realize you had a regular office."
"I felt that it was important to see what sort of patients arrive. I was working out front, but I cannot possibly store everything under the small desk that I was using. Strangely enough someone seems to have removed the desk. I suppose they found it to be an eyesore, out in front like it was," she stated, reaching for a door handle.
They stepped into her office, noticing the messy array of files. "What happened here? You're usually more organized than this," Cottle said, closing the door behind him.
She smirked. "Before I left, I vowed not to let my replacement have an easy transition. The files are arranged, but it's by body part, moving from the head to the feet."
He chuckled. "That was devious. It'll take them months to sort all this."
"Betsy knows about it, so it will only take weeks. I suppose they've been too busy with other things to start on it though, This office has been unoccupied for two months," Morgana commented.
"Never know exactly how people will use their time," Cottle added. "If all your patients' files are on paper though, why do you need a computer?"
She turned the computer on and let it boot. "Because a hospital has systems that need to be monitored by a master system. Do you remember when I scanned your president? The system and the files connected to it are stored on this computer."
"I thought you wiped that out," he commented.
"I took out her file. I have other equipment logs stored on here."
As she drummed out passwords and logged into her computer, he rested a hand on the desk, leaning next to her. "What exactly are you looking for?"
"Telephone numbers, Doctor. I have had certain chairpersons as patients. You brought the pen and paper with you, didn't you?" she asked. He nodded. "Write these down then."
She had opened a file containing phone numbers. He scribbled them down, then looked back to her. "Where will you call from?"
"This office," she replied nonchalantly.
"Wouldn't somebody be monitoring phone calls? And on that note, aren't there security cameras that will know we're in here?" he probed.
Smirking, she faced him. "That, Doctor, is the luck in this case of having a premiere who is terrified of technology. Security is much more relaxed."
He glanced at the door. "In any case, we shouldn't be here one second longer than we have to be."
"Agreed," she stated, picking up her phone. She dialed a set of numbers and waited. "Hello, Chairman Floyd Pliny? This is Dr. Sorenson, how are you? The liver still working well? Glad to hear it. Floyd, I need a favor. Yes, you heard correctly. I have been blacklisted. Ha, I know, but I wouldn't quite use that word to describe him. Listen, I need you to arrange a meeting. The Colonial government wants to meet with our government, without the premiere organizing it. Yes, I know. I know we will have to include him, but if you can organize it without him knowing initially – yes I think I can do that. Where? They've built a nice government building. We could use theirs. And I'm going to need radio and press coverage at this meeting. I know, I know, I'm asking for the world. Floyd, this is probably the most important meeting in our history or theirs. You will? That is fantastic. Two days? Thank you, I'll inform them myself. What was – oh, your wife wants a dental exam? If she's willing to put up with the trip, I can see her at the Colonials' clinic. Thank you. Goodbye."
Cottle raised an eyebrow when she hung up. "Did you get the answer you were looking for?"
"Yes. He will speak with the others and he says to expect a meeting in the Colonials' government building at ten o'clock, the day after tomorrow," she remarked, pulling a small floppy disc from a drawer and saving some of her computer files to it.
"Good. Now let's get out of here before we get caught," he reminded.
They quickly left the hospital and managed to pass into the Colonial settlement, reaching Bill and Laura's house without drawing too much attention. They passed along the necessary information and then Cottle returned to the clinic while Bill showed Morgana the library basement. She used the disc from her office to copy the files. Then she was granted access to some of Galactica's computers in order to print the files that Laura had found previously. Lee contacted the Quorum and the meeting was officially arranged.
In two days' time, a few minutes before ten o'clock, Laura sat in the conference room while Bill stood next to her. He eyed the files that Morgana had given them. "You sure you want to do this? There's still time if you want to slip out and let Lee handle it."
She rested a hand on top of his. "I need to do this. It has to be me, or it won't work. I know that doesn't make much sense, but maybe you'll understand later."
"I'm going to make sure there is a later. We've got weapons checks at the door and you will not be seated anywhere near the premiere. It's too bad that he has to show up in order to legitimize this affair," Bill grumbled.
"It'll be alright," she breathed. As he left her side to take his seat, he wondered if she had said it as much for her own sake as his.
Lee led the Quorum in first. All of them smiled over at Laura. Several of them said how good it was to see her and how nice it was that she had so much color in her face again. A few even asked her how married life was agreeing with her. She blushed, telling them that "Since I'm not officially in office anymore, I do have a right to privacy these days, and so does the admiral."
The humor drained from her expression when D'Anna arrived, accompanied by a Six, an Eight, and a Two. "What? We were invited to this to prove ourselves, were we not?" she asked Laura.
"Of course. Please have a seat," Laura answered.
Then the other government arrived. Morgana entered first, followed by a group mostly composed of men. One white-haired gentleman with round glasses was talking to Morgana. She turned to face Laura, Lee, and D'Anna. "Mr. President, Madame Counselor, Ms. Biers, these are the Chairmen of New Plymouth. This man here is Chairman Floyd Pliny, third in line to the position of premiere."
Laura remained seated. "Hello Chairman Pliny. Thank you for agreeing to this meeting on such short notice."
"It was more a case of curiosity than any inconvenience, Madame Counselor. My people, specifically the ones gathered here today, have been told scant little of your people. Let us being with exactly who you are and where you have traveled from," the older man stated as his government took their seats.
She looked over to Lee for him to continue. "We are from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Our worlds were destroyed in a nuclear war and we went in search of a new home. We've spent the last four years searching for Earth…," he explained the struggle of their journey, as well as the addition of the rebel Cylons. "We are asking that our people not be ostracized because we support technology. We also ask that the Cylons be respected with the same regard that you would respect us. All we want is a place to live."
Chairman Pliny looked from Lee, to Laura, and then to D'Anna. "And what do you say?"
A small smile crossed the lone Three's lips. "Mr. Adama speaks very well. He once told me that just because something has happened before, does not mean that it has to happen again. There can be an end to war, and there can be an end to the mistreatment of others, if those in power take the right steps."
"And what steps would those be?" a familiar voice near the door demanded. Tiberius stalked into the room, followed by Octavio. "It took us forever just to locate this place! And all of you have started without me! Now you listen to a machine? Have we lost our minds to the flesh and blood that have held our society together since the term of my grandfather, the memorable Julius Blackwell? He's probably rolling over in his grave!"
Then he turned his wrathful gaze on Laura. "You! This was your doing! We are not giving your people one scrap more than we have already wasted. You went behind my back. I say what goes in my government! How dare you think that a meeting like this would solve anything! You are lucky that we let you stay here at all!"
Chairman Pliny stood. "Now see here, Tiberius, these people only want human respect. Couldn't we simplify this and just declare their land as a separate country? That way we could trade and they could keep their own government."
"I knew making you third was a mistake, but I allowed it because my father always spoke well of you," Tiberius spat. Then he turned toward D'Anna. "And you, why are you here? Ladies and gentlemen, she is a machine. Why are you listening to this? We have been safe from her kind of technology for decades, and you want to chance another nuclear war by letting it back in so casually?"
"Why don't you just shut up and listen for once in your life?" Morgana retorted.
There was fire in the glare he shot at her as he walked toward her. "You! You're the one that called them, aren't you? You should be in jail for trespassing because their telephone numbers had to have come from the hospital!"
He was only a foot from her, but Cottle stood in front of her to block him. "You lay a hand on her and I'll personally see to it that you leave this room, though you might be crawling out."
"Can't we just sit down and talk like people?" Lee spoke up, hoping to diffuse the situation.
Tiberius let a few obscenities slip under his breath as he took the only empty chair, the one next to the admiral. Laura spoke, looking at Chairman Pliny. "Your premiere has kept certain information from you for a long time. Are you aware that your weather is controlled by technology?" Her question was met by confused stares. "How about the earthquakes you were having for a while, did you know that technology controls those too? And I'll bet that the premiere has not told you that my people have fixed both, in order to bargain a way to stay on this planet."
Chairman Pliny looked over to the premiere. "Tiberius, is this true?"
He snorted. "You're willing to believe her over me?"
Laura turned to Lee. "Show them the pictures."
Lee passed the photos to the other government as Laura continued speaking. "That's not the only thing he's been keeping from you. Dr. Sorenson, I believe it's your turn."
Morgana nodded. "Thank you, Madame Counselor. As our history books tell us, some of our people remained on Earth while we looked for a new home. What is not common knowledge is that the group of people became space-faring and took their technology with them. The Head Doctor hear has always received transmissions from them. The logs were stored on microfilm and passed down from Head Doctor to Head Doctor, up until twenty years ago. Over the last fifty years, those transmissions included notes of piracy and theft, so bits of their technology were stolen."
Tiberius clapped slowly three times. "Bravo, Dr. Sorenson, you tell a fine story, but is there a point in there by chance?"
She resisted the urge to glare at him and continued. "The logs mentioned the ability to reproduce human organs, then human bones. Instead of having a plastic or medical prosthetic leg, a person could have a leg that felt real and responded as a real one. They were able to transplant to only organs, but limbs. According to reports that we have with us now, they were also capable of doing full-body transplants."
Morgana glanced over at Laura. The former president picked up the discussion. "There were five cases of these full-body transplants. At different times, your people assisted my people. These full-body transplants were used on five people as children to save their lives. The brain is the same, but the body has been recreated, or re-grown, with the potential for all human functions, even to the point of human diseases. However, a marker was left behind in these five, a homing beacon of sorts. It drew them back to Earth. Upon realizing what they were, or at least realizing their true purpose, the simulated body would purge itself of human diseases, becoming what it was intended to be."
Tiberius scoffed. "What are you talking about? How can any of you, from either government, believe this crap?"
Lee spoke to his government. "What we have been calling the Final Five are actually humans that have received full-body transplants. As for the current Cylons, they were created from stolen technology that originated on Earth."
"That's what he's been hiding from you," Laura pointed to Tiberius. "Show them the pictures of the library basement. Show them the door with the seal from his grandfather. He's known about that room for a long time, and he's been keeping all of you in the dark in order to control you. Your people and my people might as well be related, because we are all linked."
One of her Quorum members, Mr. Cantrell, cleared his throat. "Madame Counselor, if you recall, we only had four of the Final Five."
Laura passed the five reports to Lee, who handed them to the man. "There are Five," she said quietly.
"But we only know of four," Cantrell reminded.
"I assure you," she paused, glancing at Bill before she slowly stood, "there are five." Instant silence settled over the room as every eye stared at her, only four people previously being aware that she was pregnant. "Look at the last report, and you'll have your answer."
(My thanks carolann, Guardian Ghost, and McGonagallFan to for reviewing :D)