Airlock, Cylon Baseship #189, Eden, four days later, 0900 hours.
The blonde was standing just before the edge of the airlock, leaning against the bulkhead, after the exterior hatch slid open. If they were still in space, the opening of the exterior door would have sucked her out into the vacuum of space. However, being on Eden's surface meant that nothing was going to happen to her as she looked down over the edge of the floor. She looked at the ground several hundred feet down while the wind swept her hair and red dress from side to side. Tears went down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and stepped, with trembling legs, towards the edge.
As she did however, she heard the sounds of pounding fists on the interior door that led to the hallways of the ship. She looked back and saw Natalie, Boomer, and several other Leoben's, and D'Anna's screaming at her o stop what she was thinking of doing.
"Open this door!" yelled Natalie as she tried to pull the door open while another humanoid Cylon was trying to manually bypass the locks, but to no avail.
The blonde in the red dress then heard Leoben calling for the Centurions to tear the door out of the interior bulkhead so that they could prevent a tragedy.
"I'm the tragedy," said the blonde who was already at the edge and looking over her shoulder while holding to the edge of the open bulkhead, "I'm the past. This… I'm the sin that brought down hell on us."
"No!" yelled Natalie as a couple of Centurions arrived and, using their talons, started pulling on the door until the bulkhead started to creak while the other humanoids rushed to one side. Before moving aside, Natalie screamed, "don't… our parents want to meet with us and… and they'll forgive you! Don't…"
"My sins should die with me so that our people have a future, and I can be with 'him'," said the blonde as she let go of the edge.
Caprica Six's Room, twenty minutes ago.
Caprica Six was a hero to the Cylons; at to the vast majority of them. Following the near decimation of the Cylons thanks to the Ori, there were a few who saw her as the villain. This was in spite of the fact that the Cylons agreed as a collective to attack the Colonies… and she was an easy target for their hidden anger. She knew that if she hadn't helped Baltar modify the CNP program, then there was a possibility that there could have been an alliance between the Colonials and Cylons against the Ori.
She was the one who gained the confidence of the great Gaius Baltar, and had even entered into a sexual relationship with the man. She gained his trust and, because of relationship, she was able to not only modify the CMP program, but she also gained access to the Colonial Military mainframe. The modified CNP program's back door shut down all Colonial ships during the attack, and the rest was history. She had completed her job, and the plan was to die with the Colonials on Caprica so that she could be resurrected and enjoy the fruits of her labour.
And the adulation of the other Cylons for all time.
But there was something unexpected that happened. Something that no Cylon thought would ever happen… she fell in love with Baltar. So, even though her heart broke when she saw him sleeping with another woman an hour before the bombs fell, Caprica Six still saved his life by using her body as a shield against the blast wave of a nearly nuclear explosion.
And now, six looked at her reflection in the mirror in her quarters and thought about how the Cylons were made to pay for their folly at the hands of the Ori. Unlike the Colonials, the Cylons were a race in the verge of extinction thanks to the loss of resurrection technology, and the inability to still sexually procreate; however, they were already taking certain steps forward in that area with research beginning on the blood of Sharon's baby, Hope Valeri. Six stared at herself in the mirror and then thought about the irony of another group of humans claiming to be from Earth being the ones who saved them. But, they were not from the Earth of the Sacred Scrolls. As a member of the fledgling government, Six was aware of Furling Earth… the truth about the ancestry of the Cylon race.
At least as far as the origins of their A.I.
Before she could think about anything else, there was a knock on her door.
"Come," said Six as she turned around to Boomer and Natalie standing in the hallway, "hey, I'm almost ready to go and…."
"Six," said Boomer, "we need to talk. Can we come in?"
"Yeah," was the reply as Six watched the two humanoid Cylons walking into the room nervously while the door slid shut behind them. She noticed the looks on the faces of the two women, looks of sadness while clasping their own hands together tightly, and wondered if everything was alright.
"Please, sit down," said Natalie gently motioning towards the bed.
"I'll stand," said Six as she narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Boomer sighed, and then walked towards Six and held her hand while gently saying that she needed her to take a seat. Six stared at Boomer looking back at her with sadness in her eyes, and the hero of the Cylon race began to wonder. There were plenty of reasons that the two of them would show sadness, but only one reason for them to some to her specifically, "it's Gaius, isn't it? What happened?"
"We just got a message from the Colonials through the Earthers," said Natalie as Boomer gently sat Caprica Six down on her bed, "I'm sorry, Six, but Baltar's been murdered."
"What?" gasped Six, her eyes wide open, while she was panting as she placed a hand on her chest while shaking her head, "no… no…"
"Six," whispered Boomer gently while tears gathered in Six's eyes, "I'm sorry."
Caprica Six broke down at the thought of the man she loved dead. Boomer held on to her tightly as Six sobbed while Natalie looked away and closed her eyes. It was only a few minutes ago that Dr. Gardner told her about the death; that the Colonials wanted to perform an autopsy before notifying the Cylons, specifically Caprica Six, of his death. Back in the room, Natalie gently told Caprica Six the same things that Dr. Gardner had told her; that Baltar really died four days ago, and they had just completed a full autopsy on his death. She told Six that it was Starbuck who killed the man… it was something that made Caprica Six open her eyes and stare at Natalie while tears streamed down her cheeks and landed on Boomer's shoulder.
Natalie explained that it seemed Starbuck suffered a mental break; she found out that something had happened to Apollo, that the person she had been in a relationship with on Caprica was a Cylon, and then all that combined with her already fragile state resulting in a purely sexual relationship with Baltar.
"During one of their… nights," said Natalie winching as Six closed her eyes and choked back a sob while slowly pulling away from Boomer, "he mentioned that he infected the CNP program. Maybe it was in the throes or passion, we'll never know… but he mentioned something. And… and that was the final straw. Starbuck then killed Baltar."
"He… he took the blame for.. for me?" asked Six before she started sobbing again saying that it was her fault.
"You did your job," said Boomer holding onto both of Six's arms, "you did what you were assigned to do, Caprica. Maybe things could have been different if we know then what we know now, but what's done is done."
While Boomer was talking to Caprica Six, Natalie started to wonder how much of Dr. Gardner told her was true. She could see that the woman was hiding something from her – there was truth in Starbuck killing Baltar, but it was how Starbuck found out… the explanation given by Dr Gardner that had Natalie wondering if there wasn't something being covered up. Back then, Natalie herself was stunned at the revelation so she didn't ask too many questions. But now, as she looked at Caprica wiping her tears while Boomer comforted her, Natalie wondered if she should ask for the truth.
'But does it really matter?' thought Natalie to herself, 'Starbuck killed him; he's dead, so does it matter what is the truth of how she really found out? Maybe… maybe not. Either way, we can't escape the fact that the Colonials have been attacked by us… it doesn't change the fact that they hate us. Finding out the truth won't change any of that… so… so maybe it's better we left it alone. Maybe.'
Caprica Six then interrupted Natalie's thoughts by saying she wanted to see his body, she wanted to say her goodbyes to the man she loved. She said, through choked sobs, that she didn't even have to see him on New Kobol… that she would like to see him on another world.
"I just want to see him, Natalie," begged Caprica while she and Boomer turned to Natalie, "please. I just want to say my goodbyes."
"I'll talk to Dr. Gardner," said Natalie, "and she'll relay the message to the Colonials."
Six nodded her head before wiping her tears as Natalie continued to speak. She told Caprica that they were headed to another planet in an hour to meet with the Earthers, the Nox, and representatives from New Kobol to meet with the Final Five.
"The Final Five?" asked Caprica as she wiped her tears. She remembered being briefed on the discovery that Saul Tigh and four others were identified as the creators of the humanoid Cylons by a woman named Triana. Caprica was surprised to learn that she was the template for all the model Six Cylons when she was first told about the Final Five weeks ago. Caprica turned to Boomer and asked if they finally had their memories returned to them.
"Yes," Boomer answered, "since you're the hero for all Cylons, we wanted to…"
"Please don't call me that anymore," Caprica whispered looking away at the floor while remembering Baltar, "please."
"Cap…."
"I'd like to be alone," Caprica whispered interrupting Natalie, "let me be alone with my memories."
Natalie looked at the despondent Six, and then nodded her head. Natalie wanted her copy to mourn the passing of a loved one in her own way… but before leaving with Boomer, she asked Caprica Six to join them in a prayer session for Baltar before they had to leave for the meeting with the Earthers.
Caprica Six was looking away while nodding her head. He mind was millions of miles away as she thought about the time she and Baltar spent together. It was a whirlwind relationship as the then Lisa Greystone, no relation to the famous Greystone family, met Gaius Baltar at a fundraiser for the Athena Academy of Science and Technology. Caprica didn't hear the door to her room close as she recalled dancing with Baltar, the very person she was meant to seduce and use, to gain access to the mainframe by helping him to complete a program he was working on to modernise the Colonial fleet.
While her memories were running through the night of their first meet, the night of their first sexual liaison, Caprica Six stood up and slowly walked to her closet with eyes that were red from tears and glassed over. She remembered the candlelit dinners, the kisses between them, as she took out the very red-dress she had worn that night. Caprica Six took off her clothes and put on the dress that had Baltar staring at her the whole night before approaching her with two drinks in his hands.
After she wore the dress, Caprica Six wore the heeled shoes of that night and walked out her room and into the hallway. She headed left and passed two Leobens, a Sharon, and a D'Anna's; they looked at her after she walked past them with a body that seemed to be moving on its own… as if there was no one controlling her. But before they could say anything, Six had already turned into a corner and headed towards the interior hatch of an airlock on her floor. She input the code on the panel outside to the left of the hatch, and then watched it slide open as alarmed started to blare. She stepped into the airlock and closed the door, ripping the circuity in the control panel inside so that no one could open the door.
It was then that the models she walked past rushed to the hatch while a Leoben shouted for someone to contact Natalie. But Six didn't care… she ignored the shouts of "Open the door" before turning around and walking to the exterior hatch. She pressed a button that slid it open and looked outside, and then back down before looking behind her at a panting Natalie who was pounding on the door.
Airlock, Cylon Baseship #189, now.
Just as the interior door was torn open by the Centurions, Six pushed herself off the edge. She felt herself falling, the thuds of metallic foot fall behind her, when she suddenly stopped. She looked back up while her body was upside-down to see a centurion holding onto her lower leg while Natalie, Boomer, and Leoben were by its side looking down with shock at Caprica Six.
"I am ordering you to let me go," said Six as she stared at the side to side roving red 'eye' of the Centurion looking back down at her, "let me go. Please."
While Natalie was telling Six to keep silent, the latter knew that the Centurions with them had the device preventing them from following their orders were removed. Now they were able to make their own decisions based on all available information. She told the Centurions that she needed to die… that her past in helping them destroy the Colonies would prevent a new Cylon civilization from moving forward.
"You know what I'm saying is the truth," said Six hanging with her body facing downward towards the ground while Leoben said that everyone had to deal with what they did.
"We're all responsible, Caprica," said Leoben, "but we need to move on."
"I die, and it's easier," said Six, "and I want to be with Gaius… I want to be with him in peace, and.."
"It just means you don't have to deal with anything like the rest of us, and if you commit suicide… do you really think you'll be with Gaius!" exclaimed Natalie while Boomer was asking the Centurion to pull Six back up and into the airlock. The Centurion nodded hits head while Natalie screamed, begging to be let go as she was being pulled up and then gently placed on the floor where Natalie rushed forward and hugged the screaming, sobbing woman. Leoben closed the exterior hatch while Boomer was telling the other humanoid models to go back to doing whatever it is they were supposed to be doing.
"I want to be with him," cried Caprica in Natalie's arms, "I want to be with him."
Galactica's Brig, at that same time.
"So, Captain, what is the truth?"
Starbuck was listening to her breathing as she stared at the man in the pin-stripped suit leaning against the bars of her cell. There was a black bag to his left while he was tapping the cane in his right hand onto the floor. The Colonial officer then looked away, closed her eyes, and thought back to four days ago.
Galactica's Brig, four days ago.
It was the day of Baltar's murder that she met with the Commander, who rushed to the Galactica after making sure that the vampire Apollo was going to be fine after he was ensouled. He had heard about the murder, and immediately rushed to her side while saying that the President was coming up later on.
She remembered looking at the Commander walking through the hatch leading from the hallway outside to the brig four days ago while there was still blood on her hands. He nodded at the guard to open the door, and then ordered him and the other two Marines behind him to give them the room. Once they left, the Commander walked into the cell where Starbuck stood up with a look of pure exhaustion on her face.
"Kara," whispered the Commander as he placed his hand on her cheek, "I'm sorry, about… about…"
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Commander," she whispered shaking her head, "when this goes to trial, I won't mention anything about…"
"There won't be a trial, Kara," whispered the Commander as he held onto her arms while looking into her eyes.
"I won't mention anything about you and Roslin knowing about Baltar's betrayal," continued Starbuck while the Commander closed his eyes and hung his head in shame, "I understand why you didn't tell anyone. You and Roslin wanted to keep our people together… if the people knew the truth, that Baltar was really a Cylon collaborator… then they would kill him and launch a revolt or… or worse."
"We were selfish," mumbled Adama as he looked up at the face of the young woman he considered a daughter.
"We're still building a new life for ourselves," said Starbuck, "we can't afford to have someone who doesn't know what he or she's doing take over from you and Roslin. Commander, I did what I did. I had to. I'm so tired of everything… of the war, of running, of… of just everything."
Starbuck told the Commander that she wanted the story to be that she killed Baltar after he spoke in his sleep of being responsible for the attack on the Colonies. She asked the Commander, that if he really did love her like a daughter, to do this one thing for her because she knew it would give her peace.
"I killed him," whispered Starbuck, "I'm sure rumours have spread through the Galactica and the surface that Baltar's dead. I have to admit to what I did. Please, Commander. Let me do this."
"Kara," said the Commander shaking his head, "no, please."
"You said you loved me like a daughter," she whispered, "did you lie, sir?"
"No," said the Commander.
"Then let me take responsibility for this. I did it, Commander," said Starbuck, "but I want you and Roslin to bring our people back up, sir. Pull us back up. We need the both of you. Please."
"I should have said something earlier," whispered the Commander as he looked down, "should have taken your off duty so that you could mentally recover.. especially with everything that happened, and…"
"I would have still gone out there and killed toasters," said Starbuck, "even if I had to go against your orders."
"Then I'm ordering you to say the truth," said the Commander.
"That's an order I won't follow," said Starbuck shaking her head.
"I'll find a way to help you," said Commander Adama when he realised that Starbuck was going to be stubborn. He knew that having two different stories would give rise to questions of a cover-up… he was very aware that Starbuck was known throughout the refugee fleet as a hothead and their best pilot. Even though he tried to deny it, the Commander knew that saying anything to shift blame away from Starbuck would create rumours of a conspiracy that could very well harm the fledgling new nation they were building.
Starbuck nodded her head as she sat down with the Commander by her side on the bed. It would be over the next few days that Helo, the injured Lt. Gaeta, the Commander, Bill and the President would visit her. She received news from them, including two days ago when she received news from the Commander that a meeting that was supposed to be held with the Cylons on another buffer world mediated by the Earthers and a race called the Nox. The mention of the Nox surprised Starbuck when the Commander mentioned it; the pilot asked him if it was the same Nox who the Earthers referred to when they talked about the Alliance of Four Great races.
Starbuck was impressed when the Commander said that they were one and the same, before telling her that Ellen and the other Final Five had recovered their memories.
"Yippee," Starbuck said while the Commander chuckled.
"Do you trust them, sir?" asked Starbuck looking at the Commander.
"I don't know," was the reply as the Commander looked down at the floor and then up at Starbuck sitting next to him, "the Earthers said they have a device that could recall memories, even play those on a screen. It would prove what the so-called Final Five would have to say to us."
"Nice technology," whispered Starbuck nodding her head. She then asked about Apollo, and if they had found someone who could be willing to have his soul bound with them. The Commander sighed and said that Dee pulled out reluctantly since Billy proposed to her. The woman said 'yes' excitedly, and then realized that it meant that she couldn't use her soul as an anchor for Apollo since, by Colonial tradition, a marriage meant that the soul of a husband and wife were connected.
And she accepted Billy's proposal. With Dee gone as an option, the Commander then asked if Starbuck was sure she wanted to pull out of the running, something she mentioned to him yesterday when he visited her.
"I know I'll be serving time for murder," said Starbuck, "I don't want Lee stuck with me while I'm in here. And anyway, when we launch an attack against the Ori and Cain, I'd like to help in the fight. I don't know if it's possible, but I want to fight. And it's very likely I'll die… and I don't want Lee to feel my death."
The Commander then nodded his head before saying that they were searching for a lawyer to represent her in the upcoming trial. HE explained that since she killed a beloved Colonial citizen with what the lawyers claimed to be an accusation nearly impossible to prove, no one wanted to represent her.
They didn't want to be hated by the citizens.
"We'll find someone," said the commander as his heart ached.
"I know," answered Starbuck. With Apollo still trapped in his room on the surface until the ritual, which was rescheduled after the meeting with the Final Five, Cylons from Eden, Earthers, and the Nox, he was the only one who couldn't visit her in the Galactica. After the Commander left, it was Racetrack who came to see her asking for some advice on her coming mission to Furling Earth as team leader for one of the Colonial groups heading for research on the planet.
"You know what you should do when you see your dear Major Thompson for your first date?" asked Starbuck who was lying on her cot while Racetrack sat at the foot of the cot.
"What, sir?" asked Racetrack with a smirk.
"Forget the movie. You need to grab him, take him to your tent, and then frack him," said Starbuck.
"Sir," exclaimed Racetrack while Starbuck chuckled before telling the junior officer to have fun. That there was a big battle coming up and they needed to relax before it. They needed to enjoy life.
Racetrack then nodded at the blonde Colonial officer, who then closed her eyes and said she was going to sleep.
Galactica's Brig, present day, a few minutes ago.
It was four days after Baltar's murder that a man in a pinstriped suit visited Starbuck in her cell. The man introduced himself as Romo Lampkin, an attorney retained by President Roslin for Starbuck while the voices for punishing the murderer of the 'great Gaius Baltar' were rising on New Kobol among the Colonial citizens.
"I did it," Starbuck said while Romo, who was carrying a black bag, tilted his head while a guard unlocked the cell and then let him in. He thanked the guard, who then glared at Starbuck, before turning away and walking out of the holding area so that attorney and client could have their private conversation. The look that the guard gave her meant that he didn't know the truth about Baltar, hardly anyone did out a small few. It meant that the Commander, Roslin, and several others had hid it from the rest of the Colonial citizens and officers who believed that he was their saviour.
And Starbuck was glad the Commander didn't reveal the truth. She loved him like a father, and didn't want to see his career destroyed. Back in the cell, Romo put down his bag and then stood up straight while leaning on a cane as he eyed Starbuck up and down nonchalantly.
"What?" asked Starbuck as she leaned forwards and rubbed her hands together.
"I just find it strange that the President herself would contact, and retain me, on behalf of one of her military officers," said Romo as he leaned against the bars of the cell while eying the cleaned up, jumpsuit wearing blonde Colonial officer, "she told me that Dr. Baltar died by your hands. She told me that you'd answer any questions I may have about what happened. And believe me when I say that there are plenty of questions I have to ask… including why was the President lying."
"Excuse me?" asked Starbuck narrowing her eyes at the man in sunglasses.
"Captain Thrace," said the attorney as he tapped the end of his cane on the floor while staring at Starbuck, "I've been practising law for a very long time, and I'm very.. very good. In fact, one of my first jobs was with the great Joseph Adama."
"Lee's grandfather?" asked Starbuck as Romo nodded his head.
"He thought me a lot of things, especially how to know if someone… it could be a client or a witness… is lying," said Romo as Starbuck frowned at him, "So, Captain, what is the truth?"
Starbuck looked away, closed her eyes, and then took in a few deep breaths before turning back to Romo and admitting to killing Baltar. She stuck with the cover story while looking straight into his eyes. She said that she didn't love the man by any means, but after all that happened recently… she just wanted some release.
"And he was easy," she said before taking a deep breath and then looking down at the floor, "we fracked after my CAP duties, and… and that night maybe he got too comfortable and started to talk in his sleep. He mumbled something about 'she' being a Cylon when they looked like walking chrome toasters. He said that, while in his sleep, he didn't mean to give her access to the Colonial Mainframe and that he hated the fact that he allowed her to help create the new CNP program.
"And that was the program that caused our fleet to shut down," said Romo as Starbuck nodded her head.
"I was fracking the greatest traitor of the colonies," said Starbuck as she glared at Romo, "I thought he was kidding, so after finishing up something on New Kobol, I came up to the Galactica and took him away from testing a new Earther device being installed into the Galactica. I took him into a maintenance closet. HE started to kiss me while I reached for a pole… he was behind me and he put his hand down my shirt."
She told Romo that the only thing going through her mind was that a mass murderer was touching her. Starbuck admitted that she remembered everything he said in his sleep while locking the door.
Starbuck looked up at her reflection on Romo's sunglasses and continued without hesitation. By the time she finished telling the lawyer what she had done, he took off his glasses and nodded his head. He then asked in she had told anyone else about this.
"The Commander. But he found out about it later," said Starbuck, "Helo and a few Marines were the ones I admitted to killing Baltar, and why. I think the Commander then ordered that no-one speak about the incident until trial."
"But the rumours spread throughout the fleet," said Romo.
"I killed the traitor," Starbuck said, "doesn't matter what you or anyone else says… he was a traitor. And now he's dead. I just did what was going to happen to him anyway."
"So," said Romo as he looked at the determined expression on her face, "are you sire that no one had anything to do with his death? No one else knew?"
"No," said Starbuck shaking her head, "no one else knew."
"I see," said Romo nodding his head, wondering if his client was a simple murderer or just succumbed to a moment of insanity after finding out she was in a sexual relationship with a traitor, "let's talk about our options."
Apollo's Quarters, New Kobol.
With the ensouled vampire being informed by a regretful Dee that she was pulling out from consideration to be his anchor, Apollo said that he understood. He congratulated Dee on her engagement and said that he wished her a happy life. As he sat on his bed with his feet on the floor, Apollo had his hand covering his mouth while sitting in the dimly lit room with a cold case of blood bags in the corner.
He didn't even want to think of the blood.. or the process of drinking the cold, thick liquid, down his throat before he wondered if he would ever be able to leave. He had already met with his father and Helo, who showed him a video of Hope and Sharon. He asked about Starbuck on the Galactica, and Helo told him that she was doing as well as she could be… that for the first time in many months, she seemed to be in peace. As he sat reminiscing about his new life, there were footsteps outside the door that Apollo could hear… followed by Dr. Burke's voice asking the Colonial Marines to open the door.
"Do it," said Commander Adama, whose voice Apollo could hear as he stood up while the door opened. He watched as Dr. Burke and the Commander walked into the room as the door closed shut behind them.
"Lee," said the Commander as he stood with his hands behind his back, "Dr. Burke has something she'd like to say."
"About?" asked Apollo.
"I'd like to be your anchor," said Dr. Burke to a surprised Apollo, "that is if you accept."
TBC.