Chapter 41 Concerns

After finishing her shower, Kara skipped the breakfast she was too nauseous to eat anyways and hurried to the flight deck, already late for her mid-morning work shift. The Chief just gave a non-committal nod at her mumbled excuse before sending her to join Cally on repairing the weapons system on one of the Raptors.

The two women had worked mostly in silence for about an hour when a short in the ship's guidance system suddenly jolted Kara. The electrical shock sent a stinging current through her bare hand, rocking her back a step.

The flight deck coalesced into a room where…

Simon was leaning over her adjusting electrodes and giving her his blatantly fake smile. She could see Six was off to the side, then fire raced along her nerve endings and pain exploded her thoughts outward…

Kara rapidly blinked as she distantly heard Cally calling her name, the younger woman's voice rising with each repetition. Kara's dazed eyes dropped to her shaking hands and she felt her lungs laboring for air. When Cally touched her elbow, she recoiled but managed to focus on what the younger woman was saying.

"Hey, you ok? Starbuck?" the Specialist asked, voice practically pleading for reassurance. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I forgot to turn off the sublet junction relay… You don't look so good," she moved closer to Kara, worry creasing her brow beneath the long bangs, "Maybe you should sit down," Cally said, reaching towards her again.

Kara shoved out with both hands, knocking the smaller woman backwards. As Cally stumbled against the Raptor's wing and fell sideways to the ground, Kara saw the surprised looked in her eyes and retreated a step herself as Cally scrambled to her feet, young face flushing with embarrassment.

"Captain!"

Starbuck's head whipped to the side as the Chief hurried over. She took another step backward, away from the advancing man. Tyrol halted at her retreat, looking between the two women, his face tight.

"It was my fault, Chief," Cally quickly spoke up. "I forgot to disable a relay and the Captain got shocked," she explained, face reddening even further.

"Captain Thrace, are you sure you're ok?" the Chief's voice was quiet as he took another step towards Kara. Again he halted as she retreated an equal distance.

A flicker of motion beyond the Chief's shoulder caught Kara's eyes and she saw Apollo looking over towards them. As the CAG took a hesitant step in their direction, she dropped her gaze and forced her throat to unlock enough to say, "Yeah, Chief. Look, I gotta go." Then she turned and hurried from the hanger bay.

[ I I I I I ]

Galen looked over at his wife, carefully surveying her for any evidence of injury.

"You're not hurt?" he asked, voice low as he noticed the approaching Major.

"I'm fine. It was just a push. She got hurt worse than me, and it was my fault," Cally hurriedly mumbled in response, then gave an innocently inquiringly look at Lee Adama as the Major stopped in front of the pair.

"Chief, what just happened?" the CAG asked, voice tight as he looked between the two orange-clad figures and Starbuck's retreating back as she disappeared through the bay hatch.

"Nothing really, Sir," Galen said, voice nonchalant as he met the Major's blue glare.

"Nothing? It didn't look like nothing from where I was standing." The Major crossed his arms and turned to the Specialist. "It looked like Captain Thrace hit you?"

The accusation held the pair frozen for a moment before Cally said in a rush, "No, Sir. Starbuck didn't hit me."

Galen felt his lip twitch with a surge of pride in his feisty spouse as she faced down the CAG, neatly sidestepping the truth as she kept her gaze level with the senior officer, her chin just slightly tilted up, daring the man to doubt her words. He wondered if maybe she spent just a little too much time around Starbuck during their year on New Caprica together. As the Major's cold blue eyes flicked to him, his impulse to grin was quickly quenched.

"So, what did happen, Chief?"

"Sir, the Specialist and Captain Thrace were doing maintenance on the Raptor when an electrical surge injured the Captain. Cally admits to negligence in her failure to properly secure the system that caused the accident. I came over to ascertain that both parties were ok and determined that it wasn't necessary to summon a medic, but did suggest to Captain Thrace that she might want to have her hand checked out by the doctor, Sir." At Apollo's skeptical look, "I believe that she's probably on her way there now. Unless she's decided that the injury's insignificant enough, in which case, I expect that she's just taken an early lunch, Sir."

"Senior Chief, I won't have any member of the Galactica abuse another. If Captain Thrace should happen to be guilty of assaulting a member of your crew, I'd expect you to inform me so I can take appropriate action," Major Adama said, looking back and forth between the two, obviously waiting for them to tell him what really had just occurred. When neither did, he bit out, "Fine, Chief. It's your deck and people. But Captain Thrace is my responsibility. Keep that in mind in the future."

As the Major turned to leave, Galen spoke up, "Sir, if I may say so. You might look closer at your own responsibilities then, Sir." Even as the words spun the CAG back around, Galen was kicking himself for opening his big mouth instead of just letting the matter drop.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, Chief Tyrol?" Apollo demanded, voice as cold as Galen has ever heard it.

Snapping into an attention stance, Galen said as neutrally as he could, "Sir. Captain Thrace had an especially tough time on New Caprica. I simply meant that she might be having some difficulty adjusting back to life on the Galactica. And the attitude of her direct superior might not be helping, Sir." The Chief kept his eyes focused over the Major's shoulder and held his rigid stance.

"The attitude of said superior is none of your concern, Senior Chief," Apollo snapped.

"Yes, Sir, Major, Sir," Galen answered briskly, unable to let the matter go without at least that much of a protest. He knew the other man would understand the Chief's disapproval in both his word choice and tone, yet neither could be used against him in a charge of insubordination.

As Apollo remained silent, Galen risked meeting his eyes and was surprised by the doubt he saw in their depth, and he saw how the blue-clad shoulders seemed to slump just a little.

"Fine, Chief… All I ask is that you protect your people," the young officer's voice sounded tired now as he turned to walk away.

"I always do, Sir," Galen said, and saw by the hesitation in Apollo's stride that he'd caught the nuance.

Once the CAG was safely out of sight, Galen pulled his wife into a brief hug. "You're really not hurt?" As she shook her head no, he prompted further, "You know, I'm not sure what exactly did happened."

"She didn't hit me. It was more of a shove," Cally said, nibbling at her lip. "And it wasn't an angry one. When I tried to touch her, she shoved me away. She wasn't mad, she was freaked." With a shake of her head, "Don't know what happened, but the shock couldn't a hurt her that bad. It's only a thirty kenawatt relay. Would've given her a good bite but that's about it." She turned worried eyes up to his, "Galen, I swear Starbuck looked like she was about to pass out."

He lifted his gaze towards where Captain Thrace had exited, mulling over his wife's words and what he'd seen for himself in Kara's expression.

"Galen?"

"Yeah?" he responded, still holding his wife close.

"Do we know? I mean, know what the Toasters did to her?" she whispered into his shoulder.

"I expect the Doc does, she had to pass a medical exam to be cleared to fly."

"Well, I think something's really wrong with her. You know, really wrong," Cally said as she drew out of her husband's embrace.

"So what do we do about it? You know Starbuck, she's not going to take kindly any one poking their noses in her business. Apollo's obviously out. Don't know what went down between those two, but the CAG's not going to be any help..." Galen ran a hand along the back of his neck in thought. "Maybe Helo. I'll see if I can speak with him between shifts."

With that decided, both returned to their tasks, hoping that they could find a way to clue in Starbuck's friends that she might be in trouble.

[ I I I I I ]

After hurrying from the hanger bay, Kara ducked into a supply closet and leaned back against its closed hatch. Her breathing was ragged as she replayed the sequence of events and how she'd suddenly found herself back at the mercy of her Cylon tormentors.

Gods! It was so frakkin' real.

She felt bruised by the buffeting emotions and wondered what she was going to do. The flashbacks were coming on so unexpectedly, leaving her reeling. One moment she was working on the Raptor, then next she was back with the Six maliciously grinning at her...and then Cally was reaching for her. She'd reflexively thrust the younger woman away, torn between the desire to run and the equally powerful urge to strike out.

Now, sliding down to sit with head in hands, Kara contemptuously accepted that she was damaged goods, that she'd come back tainted with the stain of New Caprica marked on her skin, mind and soul.

She stayed slouched against the hatch until the end of her shift, figuring that the Chief wouldn't be expecting her back anyways.

It's not like I'll be missed. Not even by the Old Man.

Her musings were bitter as she closed her eyes. It's been nearly two weeks now and she'd seen the Admiral less than a handful of times, and then only to exchange a passing greeting in the hall. He hadn't sought her out—his avoidance spoke volumes to Kara. Both Adama men had made it painfully clear that they may have cared once, but not any longer.

Why would they miss a frak-up like her anyways?

Rising stiffly, Kara finally headed back to quarters. With any luck, a few hours of oblivion might be possible before the return of her bunkmates—or the nightmares—whichever woke her first. It wasn't like she had other options or plans. During her time in hell, Kara had learned to not look beyond enduring the next few hours…then the ones after that…and so on. She had believed things would be different once she was back on the Galactica.

She should have known better.

Things didn't work out that way for Kara Thrace.

They never had.