51 Days After Cylon Attack
Coordinates Unknown
The hatch to the brig opened and Laura was on her feet when she heard the sound of Lee's voice.
"Get your hands off me, I don't need your frakking help to walk." He stepped through the doorway alone and strode into the open cell next to hers. As the cell door was pushed closed she caught sight of his hands and his arms, he was smeared in blood up to his elbows. Was it his?
She gripped the bars that separated them. "Captain, what have they done to you? What's going on?"
"My father's been shot."
"What?" she gasped in a harsh whisper. Shot? No.... She had to use the frame of the cell to hold herself upright. No...
Lee shoved his bound hands through a slot in the bars. "Someone get this frakking thing off me, please?"
"I'm not authorized to do that yet," replied the Marine guarding them.
"I'm behind the frakkin' bars!"
This wasn't supposed to happen.
"Captain." She forced herself to speak around the lump of fear that had formed in her throat. "How bad is your father?"
"Bad." Lee stopped pacing and sat down on the cot in the middle of his cell. The light above him made the blood on his hands glisten like wet paint. "Two bullets in the chest."
"Is Doctor Cottle with him?"
"No, Doc Cottle's not on board."
This wasn't supposed to happen.
"Who—Who did this? How did this happen?"
"It was Boomer." Boomer. Laura remembered the callsign. It belonged to a lieutenant who had been found by Colonial One not long after the attacks. Valerii was her name. She had helped gather dozens of civilian ships, had found the water that kept the fleet alive. Why would she shoot Commander Adama?
Lee stared floor in front of him, his voice quiet. "My father was congratulating her for completing Starbuck's mission when she pulled out her sidearm and—For no reason, she just—" He looked up at Roslin. "I guess she must have been a Cylon."
Laura turned away, unable to bear the anguish she saw in his eyes. This is my fault. If she hadn't convinced Starbuck to go back to Caprica another pilot wouldn't have been called upon to take her place. It wasn't supposed to happen this way...
There wasn't anything she could do to fix it now. So she sat down on her cot and let the background hum of the Galactica's engines fill the silence. It wasn't long, however, before Laura felt the nausea inducing tug of an FTL jump and she was on her feet again. Oh, no. No, no no!
She closed her eyes and tried to focus. Stay calm. You can think of a way out of this. But every time she tried, the words of Pythia came rushing into her mind. And the body of each tribe's leader was offered...that their sacrifice would appease the gods... There had been no prophetic warning that her choices would sacrifice so many, that it would leave humanity on the brink. Because without William Adama that's where the fleet was, where she was, left teetering on the edge of the abyss.
There was a knock at the hatch and their Marine guard got up from his table to answer it.
"You can't be here," he said to whoever had knocked.
"I'm the President's aide, I have every right to be here." It was Billy. Her last remaining ally. Billy, thank the gods.
"I'm sorry, but—"
Laura called out to the guard. "Corporal?" He glanced over his shoulder at her. "It is Corporal isn't it?"
"Yes..."
"Corporal, if I may ask, what's your name?"
"Venner, ma'am."
"Corporal Venner, did you receive orders that I was to be denied my article seventeen rights?"
"No, ma'am."
"Then I believe I have a visitor..." She motioned toward the hatch.
The corporal said nothing, but he nodded and stepped aside to let Billy through.
Her aide stopped in the middle of the room when he saw Lee in the cell beside her.
"I take it you know about the commander," he said. She nodded. "It's been pretty chaotic since, but from what I've overheard, Commander Adama's in sickbay and Colonel Tigh jumped the ship to our emergency coordinates, but—Madam President, we've lost the civilian fleet. "
Lost?
"My gods...How could—? It doesn't matter. We've got to jump back. We can't stay here. Lieutenant Thrace won't be able to find us once she retrieves the arrow from Caprica." And what if the fleet jumps back to try and find the Galactica?
"If she retrieves the arrow," replied Bill doubtfully.
"She'll retrieve the arrow." She has to. There was hope as long as Kara was out there, but Laura needed more than that she needed help. She turned to Lee. "Captain, you've got to get reinstated. You've got to get back to CIC, gotta denounce me, disavow me, do whatever you need to do. Colonel Tigh cannot relocate this fleet on his own without your father." If anyone can find them again...
"Tigh's not letting me out of here," he countered. "I put a gun to his head. He won't forget that anytime soon."
"I am so sorry that I got you into this, Captain." She had already burdened him with her secrets, had put him in a position that set him against his father more than once and used that relationship to benefit herself. It had cost Lee his father's trust, and maybe even his father's life. Now she was asking for more.
"No, don't apologize," he said. "I knew what I was doing, I—and I didn't do it for you. I did it for...well, actually, I did it for nothing, turns out."
"That's not true. You took a stand."
"And now look at us." The dullness in his tone and his hunched posture made it clear that he'd given up. She couldn't let him.
"Lee, look at me. Your father told me it's not enough to live, you have to have something to live for. That's why he lied to his crew, to the fleet, about Earth, but it's not a lie anymore. You have your ideals to live for and it may not have led to the outcome you were trying to achieve, but that's not your fault, it's mine. And no one, not Colonel Tigh, not me, not your father, can blame you for obeying the dictates of your conscience. If humanity is to do more than just survive, you can not give that up."
He sighed. "It doesn't make much difference right now does it? There's nothing I can do about it."
"Yes, there is. We can get you out of here." Laura turned back to her aide. "Billy, could you please contact the CIC and inform Colonel Tigh that I'd like to speak with him."
Corporal Venner didn't interfere as Billy picked up the brig's phone and called the CIC. Lieutenant Dualla must have been the one who answered because Billy had to specify that he wasn't making a social call, and was instead relaying a presidential request. The response from Colonel Tigh was as expected. No. And for the first time in a very long time, Laura Roslin had to fight down the urge to hit something. She did not have time for this. To be locked in a cell, while the fleet was missing, with Galactica's commander in sickbay and the XO doing gods know what. Commander Adama may not have wanted Gaius Baltar for a president, but she sure as frak didn't want Colonel Tigh for a commander either.
Laura took to alternating bouts of pacing and attempts to sit calmly that only led to more pacing. No one in the room spoke, there wasn't any reason to. Billy stayed, to do what and for why Laura didn't know, except maybe to show his solidarity by staying or maybe because he had nowhere else to go.
Eventually, Colonel Tigh came down to the brig with a group of Marines and by then Laura was almost happy to see him. Finally some progress.
"Just what was so godsdamned important?" he growled to Lee without even glancing in Laura's direction.
Lee rose to his full height and addressed the colonel.
"I want to offer terms for my parole."
"If you think I'm letting you out of that cell—"
"Galactica needs a CAG and I'm the best pilot you have left. You need me to help find the civilian fleet."
"How did—? Never mind. I'm not doing this." Tigh turned to leave.
"Colonel! Colonel, I made a mistake. If we don't find the fleet my father will die. I can't just do nothing—Colonel, please."
Tigh stopped. He sighed. "Open his cell."
Lee stepped out and moved to face him.
"Remove his restraints."
"Thank you, Colonel."
"Let me make one thing clear, you make one wrong move or try to let Roslin out of that cell, then the next time your father sees you it'll be behind bars on the Astral Queen with your buddy Zarek, you understand?"
"All right." He held out his arms for the guard to uncuff him. "You have my parole. When I'm on duty, I'll make no attempt to free her or sow insurrection among the crew." Lee rubbed his hands together, trying to scrape away the dried blood, but it didn't do any good. "When I'm not on duty, I'll report directly back to this cell."
"Pre-flight brief is underway in the ready room."
"Right."
The hatch was opened and Laura called out to him before he stepped through.
"Good hunting, Captain."
"Thank you, Madam President." His words were more than a statement of defiance, they were also words of assurance, Captain Apollo wasn't going to give up. For the moment that was enough.
"Colonel, once you find the fleet, I'd like to have a word with you."
"There's nothing to talk about," replied Tigh. "You went up against the Old Man and you lost." The hatch clanged shut at his departure and Laura felt her frustration come flooding back.
This time, she managed to stifle the urge to pace and resigned herself to waiting. How long was it? Half an hour? An hour? She didn't know when she felt the tug of Galactica transitioning into another FTL jump. It wasn't important, the fact that the vibrations under her feet had changed, that was important. First it was a shudder that seemed to run through the floor at regular intervals. The salvo fire of Galactica's main batteries perhaps? Then it was a sudden shift as everything rattled and the lights flickered.
The only other time she'd been aboard the Galactica during combat was when they staged the attack on the Tylium asteroid and the Vipers had borne the brunt of that particular engagement. She didn't know whether this was normal or a sign that the Cylons were about to destroy them. She surmised that it might closer to the latter when Corporal Venner asked her to pray with him. He knelt in front of the cell and offered his hands through the bars. She accepted because what else could she do?
He closed his eyes. "Help us, Lords of Kobol. Help your prophet Laura guide us to the path of righteousness." And as he continued Laura Roslin realized that whoever had assigned Corporal Venner to this post had made a most profound error. This soldier who professed his faith might be swayed, given time, to believe that those appointed over him had not only issued unlawful orders, but that they no longer deserved his obedience. "Help us turn away from the calls of the wicked and show us the knowledge of your certain salvation. We offer this prayer. So say we all."
He opened his eyes and she smiled around the discomfort she felt with this faith that she still could not wholly embrace. "So say we all."
Moments later there was one final, violent, tremor and the ship jumped away to safety.
Corporal Venner released her hands and rose from his knees.
"Thank you, Madam President."
"You're welcome, Corporal."
Billy released his grip on the bars beside him and straightened his jacket. "Well, at least the worst seems to be over for now," he said.
She hoped he was right, but their reprieve didn't last very long. The lights flickered despite the end of the battle and then they went out altogether.
"Guess I was wrong," he breathed.
Everything went quiet, the kind of quiet that causes a prickling sensation on the back of the neck in that brief moment before something goes suddenly, terribly wrong. The minutes slid and stretched on into timelessness until there was another flicker and the dim glow of the emergency lighting brought a sense of relief, but the quiet remained. Corporal Venner fumbled with his vest pockets and pulled out a small flashlight, its thin light was small comfort, but it was better than nothing. A muffled burst of noise from the corridors outside finally shattered the tension in the air like a cord pulled too taut that had finally snapped.
"Are those gunshots?" asked Billy.
"Yeah," confirmed the corporal.
"We can't stay in here."
"Open the door," said Laura, her voice low and in harmony with the quiet but no less authoritative.
"You know I can't do that Madam President." If he really thought of her as his president then he'd follow her orders.
"Corporal Venner, I have no intention of being locked in this cell and shot like a rat in a cage. Open the door!"
He looked at her, trying to gauge her intentions and then moved to unlock the cell. No sooner had she stepped out and thanked him than the lock on the brig hatch began to turn.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!"
"Corporal Venner, don't shoot!" Laura was blinded by the flashlights shining into the brig, but she recognized Lee's voice. "It's Captain Adama. I have a fire team with me."
Venner lowered his rifle. "Come on in, Captain."
The first thing Laura noticed was that Lee and the pilot who came in with him both had blood all over their faces. Someday it's going to be his own she thought. But there was no time to dwell on the idea.
"We've been boarded," Lee panted. "This deck is crawling with Cylons. They're trying to get to the magazines."
"How can we help?" she asked.
"Stay alive and don't get shot. Leave the Cylons to us." Lee turned to Venner. "Okay, sickbay is the safest spot. It's the farthest away from any potential targets, and it's designed to function as a disaster shelter in case the ship were lost." He gestured to one of the Marines. "Bonnington, sidearm."
The Marine tossed a weapon to Captain Apollo who then presented it to Laura's aide.
"Okay, Billy, you ever handled a weapon before?"
"A pellet gun from my uncle when I was, like, ten."
"Principle's the same. The real ones just make a bigger noise." Lee reached for his own sidearm and held it out to Roslin. "Madam President."
Laura waved him off. "No, thank you. I can't." She had never even held a gun before and knew that she'd be more of a danger to those with her than the Cylons if she had one in her possession.
Lee had already moved on to the next set of instructions with the efficiency and decisiveness of a well trained officer. He's his father's son...
"...Remember, just head away from the sound of gunfire."
"What about you?"
"Well, we're heading towards the gunfire," he replied. With that he rounded up the rest of his team and prepared them to move out.
"Good luck, Captain," offered Laura before he was gone. "May the Lords protect you." It was a prayer she knew neither of them believed in, but it seemed the right thing to do.
"You too. Okay let's go!"
They moved out into the darkened corridors and Laura knew she should be afraid. They could run into the Cylons at any moment and though she had two Marines and Billy for protection, it wasn't likely to be enough. Yet she wasn't afraid, what was the fear of pain or death to someone who was already dying? In its place was clarity, sharp as a razor's edge, and she held onto it because it gave her strength. It kept her calm, even when they reached a room that must have been the source of the gunshots that they had heard in the brig. They found corpses draped over crates and slumped against the walls, blood everywhere in pools and sprayed across the floor, but it didn't stop Laura from checking for signs of life from the nearest body. As it turned out, the only survivor of the massacre was Petty Officer Dualla, injured and dazed, hand wrapped around the handle of the hatch that she must have just opened when the Cylons came through.
Billy rushed to Dualla's side, but when she was unresponsive he started to panic.
The people in this room with Laura, the ones left alive, they needed her to be a leader so that's what she was. She told Billy to try using Dualla's rank to break the petty officer out of her state of shock and when Corporal Venner lost his way, Laura kept him focused. It's your job to keep me from getting shot, but it's mine to keep you alive.
"Give me your eyes. Look at me. Corporal. We don't want to walk into gunfire. We wanna go away from the Cylons, now clear your head. Come on."
"We can go only...all the way on the starboard side. It's a lot farther."
"Good. Starboard. Let's go."
By the time they had made it starboard Laura was having trouble catching her breath. Her body didn't have the same strength as the rest of her, she had to fight just to stay standing. When they encountered a hatch that wouldn't open she was almost amenable to the idea of just going back to her cell to lie down and if the Cylons should happen to find her so be it, but she knew she had to keep going.
"All right, Corporal Venner, this is your ship. I'm just a tourist. Find us another way to sickbay," she asked amid the muted echo of gunfire.
"Okay, uh...okay, we have to head toward aft damage control."
"Aft damage control, all right."
She followed him back into the corridors, but as they walked, the sounds of gunfire grew louder instead of fading.
"Wait." She stopped to listen, but there was no way to know what direction the noise was coming from.
"Take cover, take cover," whispered Venner.
They found a place to hide just off the main corridor and as Laura rested with her back to the wall everything went quiet again. But it was only for a moment, then she heard it, the thudding of heavy metal feet moving toward them. The sound reverberated off the walls, the rhythm of footsteps adding a new vibration to others underneath her feet. She caught a glimpse of two Centurions as they passed by and everyone with her scrambled to put more than a single wall between them and the Cylons.
In the confusion a gunshot rang out.
It was Billy. He'd accidentally fired the sidearm he still gripped in his hand and now he stood motionless in the doorway. The Cylons stopped and turned around. Billy stumbled backwards, exposed and in the line of fire. No time to think—Laura caught hold of Billy's jacket and pulled him down onto the deck beside her as the Centurions opened fire.
The impact with the floor sent a jolt of pain through her, her breath caught in her lungs. She couldn't move.
A human voice yelled "Fire!" and the corridor echoed with the noise of bullets and shattering glass, the thunderous report of explosive rounds. All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and struggle to breathe while churning metal bit into the walls around her. It was deafening and in one final burst of noise and screeching metal it was over.
She exhaled and lifted her head. It was over.
"Hey, hey..." Corporal Venner moved to help her up. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine." She looked to her left to see Billy climbing to his feet, stunned and more than a bit embarrassed, but whole.
"Have you been shot?" asked the corporal as she leaned on him for support.
"No...no, I don't think so." She found her footing and took another breath. "No, I'm fine."
He didn't seem convinced though and reached down to examine her blazer, his fingers found two holes in the fabric, from bullets that had just missed her. Presented with the evidence of death's presence beside her, she felt the cold rush of fear, but she forced the feeling aside with all the others she couldn't afford to feel.
"Oh."
"The gods must be watching over you."
The corporal's words reminded her of how, years ago, her mother had said something much the same. "May the Lords watch over you." Perhaps they had been watching all along...
"Madam President?"
Lee shambled into view with a pilot and one of Galactica's deckhands behind him.
"I thought I told you to head away from the sound of the gunfire. What are you doing here?"
Corporal Venner began to explain, but Laura silenced him a wave of her hand.
"Long story," she said. "We should get to sickbay. Petty Officer Dualla may need stitches." Of course the real reason Laura wanted to get to sickbay was because she wanted to see Commander Adama.
What she saw under the harsh white lights of the infirmary was the end of the chain of dominoes stretching back to her decision to follow Pythia. All she could think was that he didn't look at all like the man who'd stubbornly told her that he wouldn't have a computerized network on his ship, or the man who had shaken her hand and called her Madam President, who had lied to give his people hope and who endured pomp and protocol to make a gesture. The man unconscious on the table before her was not the man who gave books as a gift or smiled and danced with her on Colonial Day. He was just a man as vulnerable as any other. You're not supposed to die before me. You can't.
"Doc Cottle's on his way," said Colonel Tigh as he came to stand beside her. "He'll be here any minute."
Roslin looked to Lee first.
"He gonna be all right, you know that."
"Yeah. Yeah, I-I know that." He didn't believe her, but it was hard to sound convincing when she wasn't sure she believed it either.
"Colonel, I assume there's still a cell out there waiting for me." She wasn't eager return to the brig that she had just left, but if she was going to leave it she wanted it to be because Commander Adama had released her.
"That's right."
One more breath to steady herself. "Corporal Venner, I'm ready."
She glanced back at Adama's prone form one last time before she followed Venner out of sickbay. Don't you dare die.
I can't do this all alone.
Author's Note: Another round of National Novel Writing Month is set to begin on November 1st so this is likely to be the last update until December. I've found it hard to put this story down (those other projects still didn't get finished, oops!) now that I'm in the thick of things I expect I'll try to squeeze out a few words and phrases in addition to the other 50,000 I have to write for NaNo, but as those will take priority, no promises. Thank you all for your kind words, and especially your patience and faith. I hope to find you waiting for me on the other side of the jump.