Birthday Fic: The Plains of Esdraelon (6/11)
Title: The Plains of Esdraelon (6/11)
Author: bugs
Summary: Adama plans his rescue; the resistance works on finding one of their own; the Cylons lose patience with the humans.
Rating: T
Genre: Adventure, Romance, Angst, Drama
Word Count: 2,500
Series: The Stars in Their Courses
A/N: I'll try to get back into my usual rate of writing again. Afraid work has been tiring me out, and the lure of fish and berries calling me away from the keyboard. Also, let me add mamabelladonna and jen176 to the birthday wishes and sharing! Thanks for your encouragement in my writing!
Chapter Six:
The Admiral paced his quarters, his buzzing energy coming off in waves for everyone in the room to feel. Kat and Helo held back their excitement too. Finally, their mission was clear; a battle loomed.
Lee sat back in the shadows, watching with wounded eyes. He knew what that transmission from New Caprica meant, and he didn’t like it. Dee looked worried, her eyes darting between her husband and her father-in-law. Saul, burrowed deep in one of the leather chairs, was worried too. He didn’t like the gleam in his friend’s gaze one bit, and the first words out of Adama’s mouth confirmed it.
“I’ll lead the rescue party to the surface,” Bill said crisply, standing straighter than he had in months.
Before he could say another word, he was drowned out by the protests from half the room.
Lee lumbered to his feet. “Dad--Sir! This is crazy!”
His father silenced him with a glare. “I’m the one best suited for this mission. I can coordinate the insurgents on New Caprica. I’ve engaged the Cylons before in a ground battle.”
“Forty years ago!” said Lee, waddling forward.
Moving chest to chest with his son, Bill sneered, glancing down at their touching bellies. “I could still take ‘em,” he rumbled. “Don’t know about you.”
Lee looked stricken and Dee hopped up from her chair, her eyes flashing in anger.
Saul rose from his chair too. “Clear the room.” Everyone stopped and stared at him. He tipped his head towards the door. “Git.”
They filed out, leaving Tigh and Adama facing off.
Bill crossed his arms. “We need to be working on our plan, Colonel. So say what you’re gonna say, and let’s get them back in here.”
Saul folded his arms too, and peered down his hawk nose at his friend. “You’re out of your ever-living mind.”
“Careful what you say, Colonel,” flared Bill.
“I thinkin’ about every word. You’d be snatched up the moment you stepped off a Raptor. You’d be running around, looking for your wife and kids and those toasters would just lop your head right off.”
Bill snatched up Tyrol’s message. “They need the launch keys if we have any hope of evacuating everyone on the ships down there--“
“And you’re gonna get them?” Saul rocked back on his heels and squinted incredulously.
Bill’s eyes shifted away. “Sure.”
“Bill, dammit. Do you really believe you’re the best man for this job?”
“I’m the one who’ll fight the hardest--“
Reaching out, Saul squeezed his friend’s arm. “I know. But--”
“Yeah, yeah.” Adjusting his glasses, Bill read the message again, forcing himself to ignore the two letters on the bottom. “Their numbers are too damn low. What the hell’s been going on there?”
He dropped the paper on his desk and paced once around the room. “And Tyrol doesn’t mention having any reliable mole in the Cylons...” He stopped in front of Saul, who’d been waiting patiently. “But we do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sharon Agathon.”
“What?” Tigh’s mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious.”
Bill smirked. “Pick your poison.”
Tossing up his hands, Saul turned away, but Bill moved to the comm. He called the brig and asked that Sharon be brought to his quarters. As he hung up the handset, he looked at his shadow-draped rack.
He’d sleep in it tonight.
~*~
Laura and Elizabeth visited Billy and found him sitting up and alert. Overcome, Elizabeth rushed to him, giving his a kiss on the lips.
She quickly looked at Ishay. “Sorry about the germs.”
The medic rolled her eyes. “I’ll give you some privacy,” she said and flounced out of the small chamber.
Billy peeked over Elizabeth’s shoulder at Laura, concerned, but she only smiled at him, her lips quivering. “Oh Billy, you look wonderful,” she said.
He patted his askew curls. “I dunno, Ma’am. I’ve got a bad case of bedhead.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Elizabeth squeezed him tightly. “You just need a bath.”
Laura pulled the worn blanket over his long, pale foot hanging off the end of the cot. “I’m sure Ishay will do that for you.”
Elizabeth glared at her mother. “How do you feel?” the girl asked Billy.
“Awake,” he said gratefully. He flipped the blanket back to reveal his thigh. “Sergeant Ishay rigged up a drain at the infection point and that sure seems to be helping.”
The two women scrunched their faces in dismay at the crude medical procedure and the crusty bandage covering it, but Billy looked his injury over with a ghoulish interest. “She said...she told me that I’ll probably have a limp. My legs aren’t the same length anymore.”
Elizabeth leaned her face into the crook of his neck, hiding her reaction from him. Laura squeezed his foot while biting her lower lip.
He raised his chin defiantly. “I heard...I remember hearing that I might lose my leg. So I’ll take it.”
“That’s my boy,” Elizabeth murmured, and Laura gave a start at hearing a voice that sounded so much like her own saying familiar words.
“Ma’am?” Sam, Tyrol and Tory crowded into the entrance.
“No sign of Cally,” Sam said.
“We should take this somewhere else,” suggested Laura.
“No, Ma’am, please,” said Billy. “I want to get back into the loop.”
“Any word of Cally from anyone?” asked Elizabeth.
Tyrol shook his head, distress twisting his simple face.
Elizabeth bit her thumbnail. “We need to get word out. Someone has to know something. That Jammer guy seems to know a lot about the Cylons movements.”
“I could try talking to Felix Gaeta,” suggested Tory. “If it’s safe to go out.”
“We’ll put a watch on the Detention Center,” said Sam. “If they bring anyone out...”
“Maybe they’ll let her go after a day or so, like they did with me.” Laura looked hopefully at Tyrol.
“Those were early days,” said Tyrol grimly. “Before we started these attacks and the Authority got so paranoid.”
Laura reached down to stroke Billy's leg under his blanket.
Elizabeth moved to put an arm around her mother. “I want you to stay in these tunnels. No more late night strolls--“
“I’ll be fine--“
The girl was firm. “No, Mom. They want you, and I’m not going to let that happen.”
“All right,” said Laura. “Then promise me you won’t be involved in any of these actions--“
“But Chief needs help,” protested Elizabeth, trying to wiggle out of her mother’s grasp.
Laura looked at Sam with a level stare. “Promise me.”
“No, Ma’am,” he replied quietly, nodding.
~*~
One of the Cavils slapped the list on a clipboard with dissatisfaction. “One hundred and seventy-three prisoners taken last night and not one an important target. Where’s Sam Anders? Where’s Laura Roslin?”
Baltar had been doodling on his notepad, bored by the Cylons bickering. He just wanted them to go away so he could dim the lights and smoke some weed. His head snapped up at Laura’s name. “What do you want with her? She’s done nothing.”
Another Cavil rolled his eyes at his brother. “Done nothing? Who do you think is running this merry little band of insurgents, Mister President?”
The first Cavil sneered at Baltar. “You may think you won the election, you fool, but it would appear she did. She’s the one controlling our destinies now.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Baltar insisted. “She’s just trying to survive like the rest of them. You’ve all become paranoid.”
Another Cavil stood and gestured around the room. “Have you noticed something missing, Mister President? Your aide, Tory Foster?”
Baltar looked around, blinking his red-rimmed eyes slowly. “Where is she?”
A Simon, lounging in the corner of the large sofa, examined his fingernails. “She hasn’t returned since she was recorded on the Detention Center surveillance cameras stealing medication.”
“What?” Baltar gasped. He and Caprica exchanged shocked looks.
“Yes.” The first Cavil sighed. “It appears your charms have eluded another woman.”
The Cavil seated beside him peaked his fingertips. “This situation is rapidly getting out of control. We must show the human population that we’re serious and they need to cease with this pitty-pat back and forth with bombs and potshots at our heads.”
“Damn right,” spoke up a D’Anna. “I’ve had to resurrect a new model four times in the past two weeks.”
The Cavil nodded at her. “Either we increase the control or we lose control. That’s a fact. We think it’s time for stronger measures.”
“We agree,” said a D’Anna with an air of finality.
The Simon in the corner nodded. “We agree.”
A Doral leaned forward, his face pinched and intense. He nodded too. “We agree as well.” He turned to look at a Six. “How about you?”
She looked at the others, pointedly ignoring one sister in particular. “We agree also.”
The Six beside her stared at Caprica. “Most of us anyway.”
A D’Anna hopped to her feet. “Enough.” She strode over and tossed a list on Baltar’s desk.
The President, who’d been staring out the window at yet another dreary New Caprica day, looked down at the papers. “What’s this?”
“This orders the summary executions of all the detainees listed on the next page,” D’Anna said crisply. “It requires your signature.”
He blinked painfully. “My signature?”
“You’re the President,” said one of the Dorals, rising.
Baltar opened the folder. Sure enough, under an official seal, bland language stating a terrible decision. Caprica watched him intently.
“Read it later; sign now,” said D’Anna, a controlled threat just under her tone. She held out a pen.
“I won’t do it, all right?” Baltar formed the words carefully, as though they were foreign to him. “I won’t do it.”
“Then we’ll find another president,” said a seated Doral.
His brother pulled a handgun, cocked it and put it to Baltar’s head.
“Stop this!” cried Caprica.
No one else spoke up. Baltar remained very still.
“This is crazy!” she insisted.
Doral shot her in the forehead. A quiver rippled through the woman’s body, and then she fell to the ground beside Baltar’s chair. The other Sixes rose to look at their fallen sister, confused. Baltar stared and stared; he couldn’t take his eyes off his lover, her perfect features marred by a small red hole above her blank eyes.
“Dear God,” he gasped.
“She’ll be back,” a Cavil said nonchalantly.
Another Cavil pointed at Baltar. “But if he pulls that trigger now, you won’t.”
The muzzle was back, pressed against Baltar’s temple. D’Anna shoved a pen in his twitching hand. She pointed to the blank space for his name.
He remained frozen.
“Sign it!” screamed the Doral. He grabbed a handful of Baltar’s greasy hair. “Sign it! Sign your name! Sign it!”
With his head painfully held downward, Baltar peeked up, hoping to see a sympathetic face. All the Cylons stared back, their eyes as blank as his dead Caprica’s.
“Sign it! Sign it!”
Her voice, tender, whispered in his ear. “There’s nothing you can do, Gaius. It’ll be okay. You have to sign it; they’ll kill you if you don’t.”
So he did.
~*~
Lee waited until everyone filed out of his father’s quarters, including his concerned-looking wife. Then he attacked. “You can’t do this. She’s a Cylon. It was bad enough when you were talking about going down, but her?”
Bill, writing in his log, didn’t bother to look up. “I trust her,” he said.
“It’s a mistake,” said Lee.
Finally glancing up, Bill pierced Lee with his gaze. “Well, it’ll be my mistake, won’t it?” He returned to his paperwork.
“You are gambling with the lives of everyone on this ship. Everyone on my ship.”
“I don’t need a lecture from you about the responsibilities of command.” Bill’s gaze turned to a glare. He pushed up from his desk. “We’re done here.”
Lee, belying his weight, leapt up and blocked Bill’s way. “I’m not finished! This entire plan is reckless. You have the right to risk the lives of the men and women under your command, but that’s not the issue.”
Regrouping, Lee laid his hand on Bill’s chest, as though he could hold back his father’s force of will. “The issue is you are risking the lives of the entire human race--“
“I’m trying to save the human race!” hissed Bill.
“Right now, the human race, it’s the two thousand people huddled in those civilian ships that managed to get away when the Cylons came back. They’re the safe bet. They’re the ones who survived and we should guard, just like we did after the attack on the Colonies.”
Bill’s expression turned beseeching. “I hear what you’re saying,” he said. “But we have a responsibility to the people that we left behind. Your sister, her mother, Kara...”
Something Bill couldn’t identify flickered across his son’s face. Then Lee started again: “Remember what Laura said right after the attacks on the Colonies. Our first responsibility is to the survival of humanity. We can’t lose sight of that.”
Raising a hand to his chest, Bill rubbed the spot over his heart. His scar would ache sometimes when he was under distress. Hearing Lee invoke Laura’s words to justify leaving her to die was just such a moment.
“Over the last year, we’ve gotten soft,” Lee continued quietly. “If we go back to New Caprica now and we lose, it’s over. Humanity just stops.” After a pause, his voice got stronger. “An Admiral’s stars don’t give you the right to make that decision.”
Bill lowered his head and thought. Finally, he spoke. “You’re right, son. You should make plans for resuming the search for Earth with Pegasus and the civilian fleet.”
“With Pegasus? What about Galactica?” asked Lee, even as understanding dawned for him. “Dad, you won’t have a chance.”
“I know why we had to jump away when the Cylons appeared. And I realize the survival of the human race outweighs anything else. But this time, I can’t live with it, can’t face it. Maybe I’m a coward, maybe Laura will slap me the minute I show up, but I’m going back--“ Bill clapped Lee on the shoulder. “For my family. All my family. It’s more than Laura and Elizabeth, as hard as it is for you to understand.”
Lee tried to convince his father one more time. “I didn’t want to tell you this until she was further along. Dee is going to have a baby. That’s the future, Dad. The human race starting over, again.”
A smile quivering on his lips, Bill squeezed Lee’s shoulder. “Congratulations, Lee.” The smile faded. “Then you should understand. That same overwhelming force that’s driving you to go on, to protect your family, is sending me back to New Caprica.”
Nodding, Lee knew he’d lost the argument. He would never be enough for his father.
End (6/11) (chapter seven)
Author: bugs
Summary: Adama plans his rescue; the resistance works on finding one of their own; the Cylons lose patience with the humans.
Rating: T
Genre: Adventure, Romance, Angst, Drama
Word Count: 2,500
Series: The Stars in Their Courses
A/N: I'll try to get back into my usual rate of writing again. Afraid work has been tiring me out, and the lure of fish and berries calling me away from the keyboard. Also, let me add mamabelladonna and jen176 to the birthday wishes and sharing! Thanks for your encouragement in my writing!
Chapter Six:
The Admiral paced his quarters, his buzzing energy coming off in waves for everyone in the room to feel. Kat and Helo held back their excitement too. Finally, their mission was clear; a battle loomed.
Lee sat back in the shadows, watching with wounded eyes. He knew what that transmission from New Caprica meant, and he didn’t like it. Dee looked worried, her eyes darting between her husband and her father-in-law. Saul, burrowed deep in one of the leather chairs, was worried too. He didn’t like the gleam in his friend’s gaze one bit, and the first words out of Adama’s mouth confirmed it.
“I’ll lead the rescue party to the surface,” Bill said crisply, standing straighter than he had in months.
Before he could say another word, he was drowned out by the protests from half the room.
Lee lumbered to his feet. “Dad--Sir! This is crazy!”
His father silenced him with a glare. “I’m the one best suited for this mission. I can coordinate the insurgents on New Caprica. I’ve engaged the Cylons before in a ground battle.”
“Forty years ago!” said Lee, waddling forward.
Moving chest to chest with his son, Bill sneered, glancing down at their touching bellies. “I could still take ‘em,” he rumbled. “Don’t know about you.”
Lee looked stricken and Dee hopped up from her chair, her eyes flashing in anger.
Saul rose from his chair too. “Clear the room.” Everyone stopped and stared at him. He tipped his head towards the door. “Git.”
They filed out, leaving Tigh and Adama facing off.
Bill crossed his arms. “We need to be working on our plan, Colonel. So say what you’re gonna say, and let’s get them back in here.”
Saul folded his arms too, and peered down his hawk nose at his friend. “You’re out of your ever-living mind.”
“Careful what you say, Colonel,” flared Bill.
“I thinkin’ about every word. You’d be snatched up the moment you stepped off a Raptor. You’d be running around, looking for your wife and kids and those toasters would just lop your head right off.”
Bill snatched up Tyrol’s message. “They need the launch keys if we have any hope of evacuating everyone on the ships down there--“
“And you’re gonna get them?” Saul rocked back on his heels and squinted incredulously.
Bill’s eyes shifted away. “Sure.”
“Bill, dammit. Do you really believe you’re the best man for this job?”
“I’m the one who’ll fight the hardest--“
Reaching out, Saul squeezed his friend’s arm. “I know. But--”
“Yeah, yeah.” Adjusting his glasses, Bill read the message again, forcing himself to ignore the two letters on the bottom. “Their numbers are too damn low. What the hell’s been going on there?”
He dropped the paper on his desk and paced once around the room. “And Tyrol doesn’t mention having any reliable mole in the Cylons...” He stopped in front of Saul, who’d been waiting patiently. “But we do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sharon Agathon.”
“What?” Tigh’s mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious.”
Bill smirked. “Pick your poison.”
Tossing up his hands, Saul turned away, but Bill moved to the comm. He called the brig and asked that Sharon be brought to his quarters. As he hung up the handset, he looked at his shadow-draped rack.
He’d sleep in it tonight.
~*~
Laura and Elizabeth visited Billy and found him sitting up and alert. Overcome, Elizabeth rushed to him, giving his a kiss on the lips.
She quickly looked at Ishay. “Sorry about the germs.”
The medic rolled her eyes. “I’ll give you some privacy,” she said and flounced out of the small chamber.
Billy peeked over Elizabeth’s shoulder at Laura, concerned, but she only smiled at him, her lips quivering. “Oh Billy, you look wonderful,” she said.
He patted his askew curls. “I dunno, Ma’am. I’ve got a bad case of bedhead.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Elizabeth squeezed him tightly. “You just need a bath.”
Laura pulled the worn blanket over his long, pale foot hanging off the end of the cot. “I’m sure Ishay will do that for you.”
Elizabeth glared at her mother. “How do you feel?” the girl asked Billy.
“Awake,” he said gratefully. He flipped the blanket back to reveal his thigh. “Sergeant Ishay rigged up a drain at the infection point and that sure seems to be helping.”
The two women scrunched their faces in dismay at the crude medical procedure and the crusty bandage covering it, but Billy looked his injury over with a ghoulish interest. “She said...she told me that I’ll probably have a limp. My legs aren’t the same length anymore.”
Elizabeth leaned her face into the crook of his neck, hiding her reaction from him. Laura squeezed his foot while biting her lower lip.
He raised his chin defiantly. “I heard...I remember hearing that I might lose my leg. So I’ll take it.”
“That’s my boy,” Elizabeth murmured, and Laura gave a start at hearing a voice that sounded so much like her own saying familiar words.
“Ma’am?” Sam, Tyrol and Tory crowded into the entrance.
“No sign of Cally,” Sam said.
“We should take this somewhere else,” suggested Laura.
“No, Ma’am, please,” said Billy. “I want to get back into the loop.”
“Any word of Cally from anyone?” asked Elizabeth.
Tyrol shook his head, distress twisting his simple face.
Elizabeth bit her thumbnail. “We need to get word out. Someone has to know something. That Jammer guy seems to know a lot about the Cylons movements.”
“I could try talking to Felix Gaeta,” suggested Tory. “If it’s safe to go out.”
“We’ll put a watch on the Detention Center,” said Sam. “If they bring anyone out...”
“Maybe they’ll let her go after a day or so, like they did with me.” Laura looked hopefully at Tyrol.
“Those were early days,” said Tyrol grimly. “Before we started these attacks and the Authority got so paranoid.”
Laura reached down to stroke Billy's leg under his blanket.
Elizabeth moved to put an arm around her mother. “I want you to stay in these tunnels. No more late night strolls--“
“I’ll be fine--“
The girl was firm. “No, Mom. They want you, and I’m not going to let that happen.”
“All right,” said Laura. “Then promise me you won’t be involved in any of these actions--“
“But Chief needs help,” protested Elizabeth, trying to wiggle out of her mother’s grasp.
Laura looked at Sam with a level stare. “Promise me.”
“No, Ma’am,” he replied quietly, nodding.
~*~
One of the Cavils slapped the list on a clipboard with dissatisfaction. “One hundred and seventy-three prisoners taken last night and not one an important target. Where’s Sam Anders? Where’s Laura Roslin?”
Baltar had been doodling on his notepad, bored by the Cylons bickering. He just wanted them to go away so he could dim the lights and smoke some weed. His head snapped up at Laura’s name. “What do you want with her? She’s done nothing.”
Another Cavil rolled his eyes at his brother. “Done nothing? Who do you think is running this merry little band of insurgents, Mister President?”
The first Cavil sneered at Baltar. “You may think you won the election, you fool, but it would appear she did. She’s the one controlling our destinies now.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Baltar insisted. “She’s just trying to survive like the rest of them. You’ve all become paranoid.”
Another Cavil stood and gestured around the room. “Have you noticed something missing, Mister President? Your aide, Tory Foster?”
Baltar looked around, blinking his red-rimmed eyes slowly. “Where is she?”
A Simon, lounging in the corner of the large sofa, examined his fingernails. “She hasn’t returned since she was recorded on the Detention Center surveillance cameras stealing medication.”
“What?” Baltar gasped. He and Caprica exchanged shocked looks.
“Yes.” The first Cavil sighed. “It appears your charms have eluded another woman.”
The Cavil seated beside him peaked his fingertips. “This situation is rapidly getting out of control. We must show the human population that we’re serious and they need to cease with this pitty-pat back and forth with bombs and potshots at our heads.”
“Damn right,” spoke up a D’Anna. “I’ve had to resurrect a new model four times in the past two weeks.”
The Cavil nodded at her. “Either we increase the control or we lose control. That’s a fact. We think it’s time for stronger measures.”
“We agree,” said a D’Anna with an air of finality.
The Simon in the corner nodded. “We agree.”
A Doral leaned forward, his face pinched and intense. He nodded too. “We agree as well.” He turned to look at a Six. “How about you?”
She looked at the others, pointedly ignoring one sister in particular. “We agree also.”
The Six beside her stared at Caprica. “Most of us anyway.”
A D’Anna hopped to her feet. “Enough.” She strode over and tossed a list on Baltar’s desk.
The President, who’d been staring out the window at yet another dreary New Caprica day, looked down at the papers. “What’s this?”
“This orders the summary executions of all the detainees listed on the next page,” D’Anna said crisply. “It requires your signature.”
He blinked painfully. “My signature?”
“You’re the President,” said one of the Dorals, rising.
Baltar opened the folder. Sure enough, under an official seal, bland language stating a terrible decision. Caprica watched him intently.
“Read it later; sign now,” said D’Anna, a controlled threat just under her tone. She held out a pen.
“I won’t do it, all right?” Baltar formed the words carefully, as though they were foreign to him. “I won’t do it.”
“Then we’ll find another president,” said a seated Doral.
His brother pulled a handgun, cocked it and put it to Baltar’s head.
“Stop this!” cried Caprica.
No one else spoke up. Baltar remained very still.
“This is crazy!” she insisted.
Doral shot her in the forehead. A quiver rippled through the woman’s body, and then she fell to the ground beside Baltar’s chair. The other Sixes rose to look at their fallen sister, confused. Baltar stared and stared; he couldn’t take his eyes off his lover, her perfect features marred by a small red hole above her blank eyes.
“Dear God,” he gasped.
“She’ll be back,” a Cavil said nonchalantly.
Another Cavil pointed at Baltar. “But if he pulls that trigger now, you won’t.”
The muzzle was back, pressed against Baltar’s temple. D’Anna shoved a pen in his twitching hand. She pointed to the blank space for his name.
He remained frozen.
“Sign it!” screamed the Doral. He grabbed a handful of Baltar’s greasy hair. “Sign it! Sign your name! Sign it!”
With his head painfully held downward, Baltar peeked up, hoping to see a sympathetic face. All the Cylons stared back, their eyes as blank as his dead Caprica’s.
“Sign it! Sign it!”
Her voice, tender, whispered in his ear. “There’s nothing you can do, Gaius. It’ll be okay. You have to sign it; they’ll kill you if you don’t.”
So he did.
~*~
Lee waited until everyone filed out of his father’s quarters, including his concerned-looking wife. Then he attacked. “You can’t do this. She’s a Cylon. It was bad enough when you were talking about going down, but her?”
Bill, writing in his log, didn’t bother to look up. “I trust her,” he said.
“It’s a mistake,” said Lee.
Finally glancing up, Bill pierced Lee with his gaze. “Well, it’ll be my mistake, won’t it?” He returned to his paperwork.
“You are gambling with the lives of everyone on this ship. Everyone on my ship.”
“I don’t need a lecture from you about the responsibilities of command.” Bill’s gaze turned to a glare. He pushed up from his desk. “We’re done here.”
Lee, belying his weight, leapt up and blocked Bill’s way. “I’m not finished! This entire plan is reckless. You have the right to risk the lives of the men and women under your command, but that’s not the issue.”
Regrouping, Lee laid his hand on Bill’s chest, as though he could hold back his father’s force of will. “The issue is you are risking the lives of the entire human race--“
“I’m trying to save the human race!” hissed Bill.
“Right now, the human race, it’s the two thousand people huddled in those civilian ships that managed to get away when the Cylons came back. They’re the safe bet. They’re the ones who survived and we should guard, just like we did after the attack on the Colonies.”
Bill’s expression turned beseeching. “I hear what you’re saying,” he said. “But we have a responsibility to the people that we left behind. Your sister, her mother, Kara...”
Something Bill couldn’t identify flickered across his son’s face. Then Lee started again: “Remember what Laura said right after the attacks on the Colonies. Our first responsibility is to the survival of humanity. We can’t lose sight of that.”
Raising a hand to his chest, Bill rubbed the spot over his heart. His scar would ache sometimes when he was under distress. Hearing Lee invoke Laura’s words to justify leaving her to die was just such a moment.
“Over the last year, we’ve gotten soft,” Lee continued quietly. “If we go back to New Caprica now and we lose, it’s over. Humanity just stops.” After a pause, his voice got stronger. “An Admiral’s stars don’t give you the right to make that decision.”
Bill lowered his head and thought. Finally, he spoke. “You’re right, son. You should make plans for resuming the search for Earth with Pegasus and the civilian fleet.”
“With Pegasus? What about Galactica?” asked Lee, even as understanding dawned for him. “Dad, you won’t have a chance.”
“I know why we had to jump away when the Cylons appeared. And I realize the survival of the human race outweighs anything else. But this time, I can’t live with it, can’t face it. Maybe I’m a coward, maybe Laura will slap me the minute I show up, but I’m going back--“ Bill clapped Lee on the shoulder. “For my family. All my family. It’s more than Laura and Elizabeth, as hard as it is for you to understand.”
Lee tried to convince his father one more time. “I didn’t want to tell you this until she was further along. Dee is going to have a baby. That’s the future, Dad. The human race starting over, again.”
A smile quivering on his lips, Bill squeezed Lee’s shoulder. “Congratulations, Lee.” The smile faded. “Then you should understand. That same overwhelming force that’s driving you to go on, to protect your family, is sending me back to New Caprica.”
Nodding, Lee knew he’d lost the argument. He would never be enough for his father.
End (6/11) (chapter seven)