Chapter 18

Cylon Lab

Once the Cylons had stripped the military and civilians of weapons, they maintained a tight control over the government on Caprica. They watched every area of revenue allocation, but their main interest was in getting funding to several biomedical projects, one in particular run by Dr. Gaius Baltar. Utmost secrecy was maintained on his project even as an increasing amount of funding was poured into it.

-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War

.

Laura Roslin looked up from the thick document she was reading. Billy Keikeya was standing in the doorway of her office.

Ever since the President had put her in charge of helping the refugee camps, a great many people wanted her backing for their projects. She received several of these non-education related proposals a week, proposals that she at least tried to review before she passed them along to the appropriate source. They all thought she had the President's ear in a much more influential fashion than she actually did. In the long run, it didn't matter who had his ear. The Cylons were the ones in control and no one had their ears.

"Billy, come in. Why didn't you knock?"

"I didn't want to bother you. You looked so deep in concentration."

"You can bother me anytime. You know that. Please, sit down." Laura indicated the chair across from her desk. She took off her reading glasses.

As he crossed the room she glanced at her watch, nearly eight o'clock in the evening, hours past time for him to have gone home.

He sat down and slumped in the chair. Something was troubling him. During the three years he had worked for her, she had come to regard him as more than an assistant, not quite like a son, perhaps like a favorite nephew. He in turn asked her advice on personal matters, such as the choice of a birthday gift for one of the young women he occasionally dated. Not that Billy went out that often. He was like her in that regard. He worked too many long hours to have much of a social life.

"What's on your mind?" She asked.

Finally he blurted, "Blaire Merric has asked me out on a date."

"Blaire Merric? Lee Adama's girlfriend?"

Billy blushed. He had gained a great deal of poise in his job, but on a personal level, especially in regards to dating, he still acted more like a young teenager, sweet and shy and relatively inexperienced. She stopped short of making another comparison to herself. Not that it would be far wrong. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd had a date. Years, it seemed. She didn't count her business dinners with Scott Mickelson.

Billy rushed through an explanation. "She said they'd broken up. Lee's on a battlestar now and won't be home for months. She didn't want him to become a pilot anyway. She had a bad experience with another pilot. She's called me a couple of times just to chat and last night she asked me to go out with her."

"Do you want to date her?"

"Yes. But even though Lee's not a friend of mine, I still don't feel right about it."

"How long has she been calling you?"

"She called me here at work on the Monday after we ate with them at Bonnie Patrice. I guess that would have been the day that Lee left to go to the Triton. All she said was that she was going to be getting out of the service in less than a year and to keep her in mind if we had any job openings. I told her that she should put in an application with Human Resources. Then she called my home number on the next Saturday night. She and a couple of her girlfriends were at a nightclub or bar and she wanted me to join them. There was so much background noise I could barely hear her. I think maybe she'd had too much to drink. It was late and I was ready to go to bed so I passed."

"And she's been calling you since then?"

"Not often. I didn't hear from her for a couple of months, maybe four or five, and then she called 'just to chat', she said. She asked about jobs again. I told her we didn't have any openings right now but maybe later. She didn't mention Lee and I didn't ask. She gave me her mobile number and told me to call her, but I haven't done it."

"And now she and Lee have broken up?"

"That's what she said last night when she called. She didn't say what had happened or who had initiated the breakup, but I think it was her. I didn't say yes or no to the date. I told her we had a lot going on right now and I'd have to get back to her."

"I think you should do what you want to do."

"But the Adamas are your friends, especially Commander Adama," Billy blurted. "I don't want to put you in an awkward position."

She finally realized why he had come to her with his dilemma.

"Oh, Billy, thank you for thinking of me, but you can't base your decision on that. My friendship with Bill…and Lee…will survive something like this. I'm sure you had nothing to do with Blaire and Lee's breakup. If you really want to date Blaire, then you should follow your heart. Too often we put other things first."

"That helps me a lot. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, but…thank you."

For the rest of the evening Laura couldn't get Lee off of her mind. He had seemed so taken with Blaire that she wondered if he was all right. She knew how much that first heartbreak could hurt. Maybe she was wrong about Lee, but she felt like he would not easily shake off his breakup with Blaire, or hers with him, whichever the case had been.

...

The next day she called Bill's office and asked him if he could meet her for lunch.

They shook hands as they always did, but this time Bill placed his other hand over hers for a moment. They looked at each other. The past still had a claim on her heart.

"Hello, Bill."

"Laura. This is a pleasant surprise. It's been at least a month."

They sat down at their table. "How are you doing?"

"Fine. I've been busy. So have you, I imagine."

"Always. How's your family?"

"They're fine. Zak finished high school. His grades weren't the best, but he'll start at the Academy next month." Bill chuckled. "I had to pull a few strings to make that happen, and his mother had to talk to him, beg him, in fact, but Zak needs to settle down. The military will do that for him. Of course Zak's not happy about it. He wants to play soccer. He needs to grow up. Lee was twice as responsible and mature at eighteen."

"How is Lee? He's aboard the Triton, isn't he?"

"He is. Lee's doing fine as he always does. Nothing but good reports. Okay, Laura, I know you well enough to know you've got something on your mind. Spit it out."

"I'm concerned about Lee. How is he doing since his breakup with Blaire."

Bill looked at her blankly. "They broke up? Where did you hear that?"

Oh, gods, he hadn't known. His father hadn't known and she'd just told him.

"My assistant, Billy…I think…I believe…he spoke with Blaire recently." She stammered.

"I didn't know that. I'm sorry to hear it. Blaire is a sweet girl. If you want to know how Lee's doing in that regard, you'll either have to ask him or John. John is the one Lee talks to about things like that. Not to me."

"John Gallagher?"

"The same. He and Lee bonded when they were on the Galactica during the three days of fighting. John's part-friend, part-older brother, and maybe part-father to Lee. My son thinks a lot of John, probably more than he does of me. I don't blame him. I wasn't much of a father to him as he was growing up."

"You've got to consider, Bill that you're a hard act for any man to follow."

"What are you saying, Laura?"

She felt herself blush. Oh, gods, could he have taken that to mean something else entirely? Is that the way she meant it?

She composed herself. "A hard act for your son to follow. Look at your combat record. Look at your medals and your other decorations not to mention your promotions. Look at what you're doing right now. You advise the President. Just look at all you've achieved. It could be intimidating to Lee. It could make it difficult for him to…approach you with something personal, especially something that might make him look like he failed in an area of his life. He's been so successful in everything else."

"He shouldn't feel like I would regard a breakup with Blaire as a personal failure, but you're right. Maybe he'll always see me as the commander, the father who was never there for him. John doesn't have that kind of baggage with Lee. I usually meet John for coffee once or twice a month, sometimes lunch. I can understand why he and my son have formed a close friendship. John's open and easy-going, exactly the sort of man who can relate to my son. Lee admires the way John has overcome so much adversity in his life. I'm sure with John's help Lee will work through this breakup with Blaire."

"Bill, I really didn't mean to pry or bring up a sensitive subject. I'm just concerned about Lee, that's all. How old is he now?"

She realized Bill was doing the math. She could have done it herself. "He's twenty."

"So young," Laura said. "It always hurts so much when you're that young."

Their eyes met. Why did she keep turning the conversation to them? She shouldn't. What was she trying to do?

Bill had ordered a drink and now finished it. He looked out the window of the restaurant. "It doesn't necessarily hurt any less if you're older."

"No, I suppose not. Age doesn't have anything to do with it."

"No," Bill said. They looked at each other again. He didn't want to go there. At least one of them wasn't always visiting the past.

"What are you doing these days?" She asked a little too brightly.

"Trying to keep the personnel of the battlestars from getting discouraged."

"You're still visiting them regularly?"

"Like clockwork. Someday I'll talk to you about my job, about what I'm doing, the unofficial part that is, but not yet, and not in a place like this. It's too public."

"All right."

When they parted company after the meal, he took her hand again.

"Thank you for being concerned about my son, about his feelings. That…means a lot to me. More than you can probably imagine. And thank you for helping me put a few things in perspective. You seem to be able to do that for me."

"If you see Lee, just let him know…let him know that I asked about him. He's on my mind often."

"If I see him I will. But I'm sure he…knows that."

They weren't just talking about Lee, and both knew it.

...

Two weeks later Billy told her that he and Blaire had gone out to eat and afterward had gone back to her apartment just to talk. From the way he blushed, though, Laura imagined that something of a more intimate nature had ensued later in the evening.

Before he turned around to leave her office he said, "Blaire has a roommate. Her name is Anastasia Dualla but Blaire calls her Dee. She's very nice…very pretty…"

He had obviously left something unsaid. "And you're attracted to her." She finished the thought for him.

Billy looked surprised. "How did you know?"

Laura smiled. "Call it a woman's intuition. I will say this, Billy, you're on thin ice with that situation. Be very careful. I doubt Blaire will share you with her roommate. Even if they're just roommates and not really friends, I don't think you want to go there."

"It won't be a problem. Blaire told me that Dee has a thing for Lee. So I'm sure she's not interested in me at all."

"Dear gods," Laura said. "Your love life is beginning to sound like a television show."

Billy blushed again.

"I almost forgot," he said. "Adele and I have all the arrangements set for the luncheon next month for you to talk to the administrators of Caprica's colleges. I've emailed you a copy of the menu. Adele and I selected the least expensive items, but it's going to cost more than we allocated. If you approve it, I'll send it back to the hotel. Then we'll have to submit a cost-overrun requisition to the Accounting Office."

"I'll look at it right away."

Laura dreaded meeting with the administrators of the colleges who got part or all of their funding from the government. Cavil and Natasi had trimmed her budget for higher education once again. More and more of her resources were being funneled into one of the research labs. Dr. Baltar's latest project, which was as yet unexplained, had taken a huge amount of her college budget.

Now she was going to have to go before a group of people she had worked with for the last three years and tell them that they were once again going to have to do more with less. She dreaded it. Telling them over a nice luncheon was not going to lessen the blow. She knew she would take some real heat over something she could not control.

She was right. The most vocal of the group was Colonel Charles Winters, head administrator of the Academy. She had met him once before when she had given the commencement speech at Lee's graduation. Colonel Winters was a nice-looking man, late forties or early fifties, trim and fit, a little taller than she was. He simply would not accept the figures when she presented them.

After the luncheon he came up to her. He was polite but adamant, "I'm going to President Adar over this. We're barely making it as it is. Now we'll either have to cut staff or cut out some of the programs, like pilot training. I'm not willing to do that. The Academy doesn't belong under Education anyway. It belongs under the military budget."

Laura was polite to him as well, but just as firm. "You're better off under my budget, Colonel. This year the military is getting even less percentage-wise than I am."

He looked at her like he didn't believe her. "We'll see about that."

Three days later he called to apologize to her. "I talked to Richard. I guess I don't know when I'm well off. I'd like to take you to dinner and discuss options for the future. Maybe you have some suggestions. I refuse to quit training pilots."

"We can discuss business over lunch."

"I'd rather take you to dinner. More time to talk. I'd like to get to know you better, too. I guess you could say I'm asking you for a date."

"I see."

"I'm a no-nonsense kind of man, Ms. Roslin. If you're involved with someone, all you have to do is say no."

She thought about her non-existent social life. "Yes," she said.

"Good. I'll pick you up Saturday night at seven o'clock. I'll have reservations somewhere nice. Do you have a choice?"

"Bonnie Patrice," she answered.

"Done. Give me your address."

She gave it to him and he repeated it. "That's in the historic district, right?"

"Yes."

When they hung up, she immediately picked up the phone and called Bill. "Tell me about Colonel Charles Winters."

"What do you want to know about him?"

"What's he like?"

"Personally or professionally?"

"Both."

"Would you mind telling me why you're asking?" She heard something in his voice. Was it jealousy? Or was she just imagining it?

"He asked me to dinner, ostensibly to discuss the Academy's budget for next year, but he could have done that over lunch. He said he'd like to get to know me better. I'd like to know what sort of man he is."

Bill was silent for several moments. Finally he said, "He's a former Viper pilot, a good leader. He was CAG of the Solaria during the First Cylon War, later their XO. He's been at the Academy for the last five or six years. I don't know much about him personally. I think he's divorced or possibly a widower now. Something of a lady's man, I hear. His son was a Viper pilot on board the Atlantia when it was lost over Picon. I saw his name on the list at the memorial service last year. That's about all I know. Lee respects him. Never had anything bad to say about him."

"I see. Thank you."

"Laura…"

"Yes, Bill?"

"Nothing. Just behave yourself. And have a good time."

Colonel Winters looked very good when he called for her on Saturday night. He was wearing an expensive charcoal gray suit and a beautiful light blue silk tie. She decided that he was possibly a bit vain. Not like Bill at all.

She was wearing a V-necked dark green silk dress with narrow straps that was cut just low enough to be fashionable, but not so low that she felt uncomfortable. She was also wearing the small emerald and diamond earrings that had belonged to her mother. She had taken pains with her hair and makeup. When she saw the look on the colonel's face, she decided the extra effort had been worth it.

How long had it been since a man had looked at her like that?

Bonnie Patrice was crowded, but they were immediately taken to a table in the smaller, more private dining room. Apparently Colonel Winters had as much clout as she did. When they were seated, he glanced at the menu, made his selection, and closed it. She never bothered to open hers. She already knew what she was going to order.

"I see you've been here before," he said.

"Yes, I have. You didn't take very long with the menu, Colonel. Have you been here before, too?"

"No. But I generally know what I want. I don't spend a lot of time on selecting. And it's Chuck, not Colonel. What are you going to have…also what would you like to drink? I'll order for both of us."

"If I'm to call you Chuck, then it's Laura." She gave him her dinner order. "And I'll have a straight whiskey."

Winters smiled his approval. "I like a beautiful, feminine woman who can order a man's drink."

She smiled, too. He had just paid her a compliment.

They spent the meal talking about his career and never got around to the budget. He was a smart man and had accomplished a great deal, which he didn't mind relating to her.

After the meal as they were waiting for coffee, she excused herself. They were in the smaller, more private dining area. The way to the ladies' room took her through the main part of the restaurant. She saw John Gallagher and his date before he saw her.

He glanced up as she walked over to their table. He was standing by the time she got there. She liked that. It reminded her of Bill and Lee. Her father had always told her that when a woman was on her feet, a gentleman was, too.

"John, how nice to see you again."

"Laura," he held out his hand. "I'm told I held your hand for five minutes the last time we met. I promise not to do that this time."

Perhaps due to two straight whiskeys, she smiled and set the tone of their conversation. "I'm disappointed. I quite enjoyed it."

She took his hand and their eyes met. She saw the surprise before he smiled. Once again the question niggled for her as it had when she had first met him. Where during the last three or four years had she seen green eyes like his?

"Please introduce me to your lovely date."

He nodded. "Laura, this is Lissa Colson. Lissa, this is Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education. Lissa works for Dr. Gaius Baltar. I believe you two are acquainted."

"Ah, yes, Dr. Baltar. We are. As a matter of fact I'm going to have lunch with him one day next week. I'm going to ask him what he's doing with a large part of my education funding. What do you do for Dr. Baltar, Lissa?"

"I work in one of the labs."

"Would that by any chance be the lab where everything is so secret?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about what we do if that's what you mean."

Laura glanced back at John. Their eyes met again. His look was as appreciative as the colonel's had been. She was shocked to find that something in her answered him. How did a man say that much with just his eyes?

"Excuse me," Lissa said. "I can tell you two want to talk. I'll go powder my nose." She got up and left the table.

"Would you like to sit down?" John asked her.

"For a moment." She sat in the chair that Lissa had just vacated. "I hope I didn't upset her."

"She'll get over it. She thinks every woman who speaks to me is a former girlfriend."

"I'm flattered. How have you been, John?"

"I won't complain. You?"

"Busy. How is Lee doing with the breakup? I've been concerned about him."

She saw the look in his eyes. He cared deeply for his young friend.

"Lee's going to be fine. I saw him last week. He's hurting right now, but he'll be fine. He's got it all in perspective. Time should take care of the rest. Time or a new woman or both. He's a good-looking guy. If he'd lighten up, he'd have women all over him. I'm keeping an eye on him." He smiled.

"Good. I feel better knowing he has someone like you to help him. Please tell him I asked about him. I think so highly of him. I sincerely hope he doesn't hold it against me that Blaire is now dating my assistant, Billy."

"I'm sure he doesn't. I'll tell him you asked about him. I know he'll appreciate it. He thinks a lot of you, too."

He picked up his drink. She doubted it was his first that evening. Something was bothering him very much.

"Do you not like where Lissa works? Or is it the man she works for? Or perhaps both?"

Again she got a surprised look from him. "If you're reading my mind, which it seems like you're doing, then please forgive me for…anything else I might be thinking right now." He smiled again. "You look very beautiful tonight, Laura. Who's the fortunate man?"

"Thank you. I'm with Colonel Charles Winters, the Academy's head administrator." She smiled. "He asked me to dinner to discuss his budget, but he hasn't gotten around to that, yet. All we've talked about is his career which, I'll have to admit, has been rather impressive."

"Sitting across the table from you, can you blame him? Knowing Winters he's more interested in impressing you than talking about his budget."

He was still smiling as he took a drink.

"Do you know Chuck?" She asked in surprise.

"I never got to call him Chuck. He was my CAG when I was on the Solaria. Of course he was Captain Winters then. If you mention my name, I'm sure he'll tell you a lot of things about me that are only half-true. Don't listen to him. I'm not the same man I was then…in a lot of ways. I need to say hello to him and tell him to keep his mouth shut."

"We're in the other dining room. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you. I'll follow Lissa's example and go powder my nose." She stood.

John stood, too. "If you see her, please tell her I haven't run out on her."

"Certainly."

Their eyes met again. Again she saw something. Again something in her answered. Don't go there, she thought. He's taken.

"Uh, just a friendly word of advice, Laura. If you ask the colonel in for a drink, he'll assume you're offering him more than a drink...unless of course you want to offer him more than a drink."

Bill had alluded to something similar about Winters. He'd called him a lady's man. "And you obviously know the colonel well enough to make that warning."

"I do."

She smiled. "Don't worry, John. I don't sleep with a man on the first date."

He grinned. "In that case I hope you'll consider this our first date. That way I can look forward to the second."

She laughed. "You're an incorrigible flirt. And I've let you tease me long enough. Please tell Chuck I'll be back shortly."

"I will. And you're very kind. I've been called a lot worse."

They stood for another few seconds, eyes locked, unable to move, until she forced herself to walk away from the table. Why was it that when a man really appealed to her, he was taken? Bill Adama, Richard Adar, and now John Gallagher. What would a therapist have to say about that kind of moth-to-the-flame attraction?

Lissa was standing at the sink in the ladies room. She didn't look happy.

Laura said, "John asked me to tell you that he's gone to speak to my date. It seems they knew each other when John was on the Solaria."

"John forgot to mention that he knows the Secretary of Education."

"I met him at Lee Adama's graduation and haven't seen him since. I wouldn't say we really know each other."

"Not long ago we ran into another one of his old girlfriends. I could tell she still has a thing for him. It's how good he is in the sack. It gets them every time. But I guess you know that."

"I can assure you I'm not one of his former girlfriends, nor am I acquainted with his bedroom skills."

"I couldn't make it to Lee's graduation. It's not that I didn't want to go. I had to work."

"On Dr. Baltar's secret project?"

"That's my job."

"Let me ask you, then, do you think what you're doing is important enough to be taking away such a large portion of the education funding for Caprica?"

"Gaius does."

"I'm asking you for your opinion. You're young. I'm sure one day you and John will want to start a family. At the rate we're going by that time there won't be anything left for your children's education."

"That's a big assumption on your part."

"It's not an assumption at all. I know exactly how much money we've lost to the biomedical and AI and other projects for the last three years, especially this secret project that no one will talk about."

"No, I mean your assumption that John and I want to start a family. We've already had that talk. He wants a kid. I don't. Since I'm the one who'd have to put my career on hold to have it, and I'm not willing to do that, end of discussion."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to pry."

Lissa shrugged. "I should get back. Otherwise John will probably think I'm frakking somebody in the parking lot. Not that he would care."

Laura was still wondering what Lissa had mean by that comment when she returned to her table.

"So you know John Gallagher," Winters said.

She sighed. Was the colonel going to assume she'd been sleeping with John, too? She said almost wearily. "I met him at Lee Adama's graduation. Lee and John are friends. Bill and I go back quite a few years."

"Gallagher was the best and the most hell-raising Viper pilot I've ever known. Before his accident, that is."

"Accident?"

"Didn't you know? John lost a leg in a motorcycle accident."

"No, I didn't know that."

"He could have stayed in the service, done something else, but he took a medical discharge. He was twenty-four years old and wasn't able to fly a Viper anymore and nothing else would do. He had a rough time afterward, physically and emotionally. I went to see him right after he'd been moved to the rehab hospital. He was angry and bitter. Told me not to come back. Said he didn't want my pity. It was hard to see him in that kind of shape. I'm glad to see's he's fine now. Still flying. That's all he ever wanted to do. That and romance the ladies."

"Yes, I can well imagine with his looks he did quite a lot of that."

The colonel chuckled. "I'll never forget the time he…how shall I put this delicately?"

"You don't need to put anything delicately for me."

"He had something going on with two Raptor pilots. Both good-looking women. Big rivalry between the two of them even before John was in the picture. One of them caught him in the shower with the other one. Some real fireworks ensued. He tried to keep them apart, got a black-eye for his trouble, and then one of his friends got involved. To sum it up, half-hour later I had seven pilots lined up in my office, in uniform by then of course, not bare-assed and wet like most of them were when the scuffle was taking place."

The colonel started laughing again at the memory.

"One caught him showering with the other?" she asked. "I've heard things are different on a battlestar with everyone using the same bathroom, but certainly they don't have to shower together."

The colonel was still laughing. "Not showering, Laura. Having sex."

"In the shower? Dear gods, how do you do that?"

"If you want a demonstration, you'll have to ask John. I was told he's damn good at it."

She was still trying to imagine how you did something like that in a shower. She finally came up with a scenario that involved youth, strength, good coordination, some athletic ability and a lot of determination.

"Please continue your story."

"First words out of John's mouth were, 'This is all my fault, sir.' I already had a good idea of what had happened. Then one of the Raptor pilots spoke up and said she'd started it. I ended up letting them all off with a warning, told them if anything like that ever happened again, they'd all go to the brig. Then I dismissed the other five and got the whole story from her."

"I had no idea that life on a battlestar during peacetime could be so…exciting."

"It's usually not. I asked John to stay after I dismissed the Raptor pilot. Told him if he couldn't be reasonable about his love life, I'd pull him off flight-ready status for a month so he could think about it. I knew that would get his attention. I asked him if he had learned a lesson. Yes, sir. I asked him if he thought he could keep it to one woman at a time from then on. Yes, sir. As far as I know, he did. I never had to deal with anything like that again. I'll never forget it, though. That John was a rascal. The ladies loved him."

"I'm sure. He's a very charming man."

"Sounds like I've got some competition."

"He has a girlfriend, Chuck. She looks all of twenty-five and she's very lovely."

The colonel smiled. "Now why doesn't that surprise me?"

When Winters took her back to her apartment, she did not ask him in for a drink. He told her he would call her. She told him that she had enjoyed the evening and would wait on his call. He leaned over and kissed her lightly. She kissed him back. She was fairly certain that she would hear from him soon.

Her social life was looking brighter.

That night as she tried to go to sleep, a plan began to form in her mind. She might have a way to find out what was going on in Dr. Baltar's secret lab.

She was meeting with Gaius on Thursday, and that didn't give her much time. She could postpone their lunch, but it had taken her so long to get this one set up that she didn't want to do it. As soon as she got to work on Monday morning she called Bill and asked him how she could get in touch with John.

"I'm starting to feel like your dating service, Laura. Did things not work out with Colonel Winters?"

"This is strictly professional, Bill. I need John's help with something."

"Anything I can help you with?"

"Unfortunately, no. Unless you know what's going on in Dr. Baltar's secret lab or know someone who does."

"Sorry, I don't. What's this about?"

"Not over the phone. We'll have lunch next week and I'll tell you then."

"I can tell you where John works. They'll give him a message. I'm sure he'll call you back."

When she called the air cargo office she found that John was off that day, but the woman who took the call politely refused to give her John's personal phone number citing company policy. Laura went out to Billy's desk, had him pull up the city's on-line phone directory. John was not listed, but Lissa Colson was. Laura took a chance and called. John answered. So they were living together. It was indeed a committed relationship. Troubled perhaps, but they were still together.

"Hello, John, it's Laura."

There was a moment of silence before he said, "Was it something I said or something Colonel Winters told you?"

"Neither. I'm calling because I need your help. It's not something I want to discuss over the phone. I know this is short notice, but I'd like to meet you for dinner tonight unless it will cause problems with you and Lissa."

"She's always late getting home from work. I eat dinner alone most of the time."

She remembered the Colonel's succinct question. "Is that a yes or a no?"

"What do you think?"

"One word, John."

"Yes."

"Good. Meet me at Channing's. It's a little restaurant on Baker Street just past the corner of Baker and King's Bay."

"I know where it is. What time? Earlier is better for me. I've got to be up at four a.m. tomorrow. I'm not as young as I used to be. I actually have to sleep a few hours now."

"Six?"

"Perfect."

She left work early that day. She washed her face, brushed out her hair and put it in a pony tail, put on a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans and sneakers. That was about as incognito as she could get. She doubted that she needed to be that careful, but she also knew she needed to protect John if he was indeed able to help her obtain information about the lab.

She was waiting in a booth when he arrived. He walked past her before he slowly backed up.

"Holy Hera," he said and smiled. "You look about sixteen. I feel like I'm robbing the cradle." He sat down opposite her.

She smiled in return. "Would you like something to drink tonight?" She held up her glass. "I started without you."

"Just coffee. I'll be in the cockpit at six a.m. tomorrow. One of my rules. I never drink before I fly."

"I want to thank you for agreeing to meet me like this. I'm sure you're curious."

"Very."

"Do you know anything about the secret project that Lissa is working on?"

His smiled faded. "I won't do anything to get her in trouble."

"I'm not asking you to do that, but this is important. The Cylons have cut my education budget again. That's twice this year. We were already struggling. I need some ammunition for my meeting with Dr. Baltar later this week. I might be able to get him to agree to make do with the funds he's already getting. I need to know what's going on in that lab. Please help me. Help all of us."

"Sorry, Laura, I'm not your man for this." He got up. "Sorry. It was nice to see you again."

She watched him walk out of the restaurant. She looked for any hint of a limp, anything to indicate he'd lost a leg like Chuck Winters had said. She saw nothing.

She caught her waiter's eye and held up her empty glass. When he brought her another straight whiskey, she drank half, leaned her head back against the booth and closed her eyes. She was out of ideas. This had been her last hope.

She heard a sound and opened her eyes. John slid back into the seat opposite her. "I won't deny Lissa and I are having problems, some of them related to her job, but I still won't do anything to get her in trouble."

"Your loyalty to her is very admirable. I can promise you that neither of your names will ever be mentioned. I just need some ideas. I already have a fear. I first had it during the negotiations. I would be happy to hear that's not what they're trying to do."

"Why don't we do it this way," John said. "You start talking. I'll tell you if you're wrong."

"Have you ever read the treaty we signed with the Cylons?"

"Not the whole thing. But I do know we gave them complete access to all of our biomedical research, genetic, fertility, cloning and AI."

"I was opposed to it. So was Bill, but we were outvoted. My fear is that they've made some strides in possibly creating," she took a deep breath and lowered her voice, "possibly creating a hybrid of some sort, part-human, part-Cylon."

She waited. He didn't tell her that she was wrong.

"Oh, gods, am I right?"

"That's their goal," he finally said. "Lissa and I haven't talked about this in a while. It's a real point of…of disagreement with us."

"Do you have any idea how close they are?"

He shook his head.

"Could you find out?"

"Lissa and all the rest of them down at that lab have signed a confidentiality agreement saying that if they talk about the work they're doing, they will be fired without any recourse and possibly face some kind charges involving the infringement of intellectual property rights. You're asking me to get her to do something that could not only get her fired but also get her charged with a crime."

"I'm asking you to help me. Help all of us, help humanity. Please, John. I don't have anyone else I can ask. You're my only hope."

"I don't know how much I can do without making Lissa suspicious. She knows how I feel about it. If I suddenly start asking a lot of questions, she's going to know something's up."

"I think you feel the same way I do. Creating a new life is a miracle. What kind of aberration would a hybrid be? Half-machine, half-human? A creature with half a soul?"

"You're presuming that everyone believes humans have souls. Some people don't believe there was anything divine in the creation of humans. Some people think we're just one step in an evolutionary chain that started eons ago on another planet in another solar system. Some people think a human-cylon hybrid is the next evolutionary step. Some people see it as an improvement on the human race."

"Is that what Lissa believes?"

"Lissa, Dr. Baltar and most everybody else she works with. Otherwise they wouldn't be working out there."

"Do they believe we originally came from Kobol and before that Earth?" She asked.

"Lissa and I have never discussed it. I think the only ones who believe that are deep into the prophecies of Pythia."

"I've read Pythia. Myths usually have some foundation in truth. Pythia was a real person, an Oracle at Delphi almost twenty-five hundred years ago. She often prophesied while in a trance. One of the most enduring of those prophesies is the birth of a special child and the return of the human race to their original home on Earth. There is supposed to be a tomb on Kobol, the tomb of Athena. It's said that the map to Earth is in her tomb."

"Don't forget that according to the archeologists, Pythia's temple was built near a volcanic vent. At certain times she would have been breathing methane and sulfur vapors. You or I could probably prophesy if we did that."

"So you don't believe there's any truth to the myth?"

He shrugged. "I didn't say that. I haven't read or studied Pythia as thoroughly as you obviously have."

"Does Lissa believe in the gods?"

"She doesn't believe in anything she can't touch and see and quantify."

"And you?"

"Let's just say that even if I had Lissa's knowledge, you'd never find me working at that lab."

"I meet with Dr. Balter on Thursday. I know that doesn't give you much time. Will you do what you can? Please, John. So much is riding on this. If I don't stand up to them now, if I don't stop them now, they'll eventually take everything. The Colony's children deserve a better future. They deserve a chance at an education."

"I'll do what I can. And you're right. I feel exactly like you do. A new human life is a miracle. To hold a baby in your arms and know she's part of you…" he nodded, "…a miracle."

She started to tell him that he sounded like he had done that, but she didn't. There was obviously no child in his life now. Perhaps that was the cause of an underlying sadness she sensed in him. Perhaps at some point in his life John Gallagher had lost a child, a daughter. Some day she might get the opportunity to ask him, but not tonight. She didn't know him well enough to ask him something that personal yet.

She had one last request for him. "One other thing you might try to find out, and this has nothing to do with what they are doing in that lab…does Dr. Baltar have a…I can barely make myself say this…a romance going on with the blond Cylon woman, Natasi?"

"You're kidding me."

"I wish I were."

"You've seen or heard something to make you think he does?"

"I saw them together right after the treaty was signed. I thought they looked like…lovers. During the negotiations, too, I saw the way they interacted. All I can say is that I think there's something there."

"I've seen her picture. She's beautiful, but she's a machine."

"Exactly."

When they left the restaurant, he offered to call a transport for her.

"I'm walking. I only live five blocks from here."

He walked with her back to her apartment building, an older but elegant brick structure set back from the road on a tree lined circle. They talked about the history of Caprica City. She was surprised at how knowledgeable he was, especially about the historic district where she lived.

Both of them knew she wasn't going to ask him in for a drink.

She stopped outside and took a business card out of her jeans pocket. She handed it to him. "In case you ever need to get in touch with me. No one will ever answer those numbers but me or they will go to voice mail. Be careful about any message you leave on my voice mail, though. The Cylons can get to anything like that. There are also a lot of reporters and possibly others as well who would love to get their hands on that card. So please treat it with care."

"Don't worry. I'll memorize these and then destroy the card." He reached in his jacket pocket and took out a small piece of paper. "My mobile number. It would be better if you called that instead of the other number. It will go to voice mail, too. There are times I won't be able to answer it. Like when I'm in the cockpit. I'm sure you understand."

"I understand completely. Thank you for agreeing to meet me for dinner tonight and especially for agreeing to help me."

He grinned. "So is this our second date?"

She kept up the teasing exchange. "I don't sleep with a man on the second date, either."

"So what's the magic number, Laura?"

She smiled. "I can promise you that if we ever reach it, I'll let you know."

"I'll count on that. Goodnight, Laura. I'll see you Wednesday night. Same time, same place. I hope I have something for you."

"Goodnight, John."

He turned and started down the sidewalk.

She called after him, "Someday perhaps you can explain that little shower trick to me."

"Damn," he kept walking and started laughing. "I'm going to kill Chuck Winters."