[Fic] The Agency: Troubles Compounded
Chapter Twenty-Four: What Will Come
Rating: M
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Adama/Roslin
Author's Note: For summary, categories, disclaimer and warnings, see Chapter One. You guys! So frakking forgiving. Best fandom ever. It's so good to be back.
Because you deserve it ...
Chapter Twenty-Four: What Will Come
It had been years since Laura had stepped foot in a temple and it was difficult to suppress the memories of three long, polished, wooden caskets as she did now. The large round room was near empty this time, but the incense alone incited thoughts of hundreds of saddened people crammed in, the haunting sounds of the death hymn, her brother-in-laws ashen face, his eyes long past devastated and forevermore empty, unwaveringly staring at a horrifically smaller version of the coffins.
She had to take a deep breath as she sat heavily on a darkened pew near the back. There was a reason she avoided places of worship. Ever since she was a teenager, they had stopped symbolizing uplifting faith and become one of the key sets in her personal drama of loss and grief.
“This is the first time in our long acquaintance that you’ve come to me, Laura Roslin. You must be deeply troubled.”
The voice didn’t startle her, even though she hadn’t heard anyone approach. She’d long since become accustomed to Elosha’s mysterious ways, certain that in another life she was a masterful spy.
She cocked her head, glancing over at the priestess who was suddenly sitting on the pew beside her. “Not deeply so, no. I just needed to get out for awhile.”
Elosha gave her a smile. “You lie terribly well. A skill of your profession, no doubt. Have you ever considered trying your hand at the high stakes triad tables?”
“I’ll enter the tournament when I retire.”
“I believe the change of career would be wise. Not only would your income increase, so would your life expectancy.”
Laura laughed. “Peace at last.”
“So say we all.”
They watched for a moment in companionable silence as another priestess across the room removed burnt out candles and replaced them with new ones, lighting them in a most reverential way, before Elosha questioned, “Why have you come to a place you so detest?”
“I don’t ever remember saying I detested temples,” Laura replied.
Elosha smiled again. “You avoid them as if you fear that faith is an infectious disease you don’t wish to catch.”
“Maybe I do,” Laura sighed. “I’ve come to speak with you.”
“That much is understood and in fact, I would be quite insulted if you were here to speak with one of the other priests. What troubles you?”
“I wanted to ask you what the Scriptures say about prophecy,” Laura told her.
Elosha obviously wasn’t expecting the response; she leaned back slightly and raised an eyebrow in question. “Prophecy?” The Director nodded and so the priestess took a moment to think and then told her, “Most of the Scriptures don’t mention it at all as prophecy implies there is an unchangeable destiny and it is stated repeatedly that the Gods gave us free will so that we may choose our own destinies.”
“But there is something, isn’t there? I don’t remember much about the Scriptures, but my mother read them to me when I was young and I can vaguely recall something.”
“The book of Pythia,” Elosha said. “She supposedly tells of a great tragedy befalling the people, forcing them to flee their homes and take to the stars.” Meeting Laura’s eyes, she asked, “Will you tell me why you are suddenly so curious about such things?”
Laura paused a long moment and then said, “We have a prisoner. She said ... she said that I was a target of our enemies because I was foretold.” It was only as she repeated the words to a third party that she realized how ridiculous her conversation with Gina had been.
She was about to tell Elosha to forget it entirely when the priestess told her, “The only prominent character foretold by Pythia was the dying leader.”
“I’m sorry?”
“’And the Lords anointed a leader to guide the caravan of the heavens to their new homeland’,” Elosha quoted. “It is said that the new leader suffered a wasting disease and would not live to enter the promised land.”
Laura froze for a moment. “What kind of wasting disease?”
“The writings are not specific. But if you are thinking of your cancer, that you may be the dying leader, do not worry yourself over it. Your tumor has been removed.”
“And if it comes back?”
“You’re taking what this prisoner said seriously.”
“Yes,” Laura said immediately, then shook her head. “No. No, I’m not, I just ... I don’t know why I’m here. I suppose I was hoping you would tell me that it’s a load of crap.”
Elosha smiled her enigmatic smile. “It is a load of crap.”
Startled, the Director met her eyes. “It is?”
“Do you truly believe that the Scriptures foretold that you would lead the people through space to a new home after these ones are destroyed?” Not really expecting an answer, Elosha went on, “I prefer the part of the writings that tell us we make our own destiny. It makes our time here seem so much more important, don’t you think?
“But if this is really bothering you, Laura, then perhaps you should think about those teachings from your childhood and remember that the Scriptures say a lot of things that aren’t true.”
“Coming from a priestess, it reminds me why I’m not a firm believer.”
“Even those of us that are secure in our faith can question what we are told by our Gods. The writings also say that the first human was shaped out of mud and the first woman is responsible for all evil and suffering in the world.” She smirked, “I say man is far more likely to cause suffering. The stories in the Scriptures are purposely open to interpretation and meant to be understood as the metaphors they are, rarely taken literally.”
Chuckling deeply, Laura met Elosha’s eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome. But this is not all that worries you.”
“No,” Laura sighed. “In fact, right now it’s pretty low on the list of things that are worrying me. I was just curious I suppose. They tried to kill me and I don’t know why.”
“Perhaps it is merely because they can sense the threat you are. Whether you are the dying leader, or the Director of the Agency, you are not a woman to be trifled with, Laura Roslin. Though, if you start having hallucinations of serpents, be sure to let me know.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Lee and Kara had been released from Life Station, pending another few tests, and were now sitting in the Directors office. She was obviously still pissed at them, but as she had said, she needed them. They’d been filling out mountains of backlogged paperwork - part of their punishment - so to be in on the meeting was somewhat of a respite.
“The President’s Ball?” Bill questioned with a frown, leaning back against the couch and thinking deeply.
Kara frowned too. “It’s all we can think of. There’ll be celebrations everywhere on Colonial Day, of course, but if I were a crazy Cylon hoping to damage mankind, then that would be my target.”
“We can’t really rule out the parades, or the large park gatherings, if they’re just going for a big bang with high casualties, but strategically the President’s Ball would be the best hit. The President, the cabinet, the Quorum. Admiral’s and high ranking officials. It would devastate society’s structure,” Lee commented.
Roslin sighed. “We’ve no way at all to confirm this?”
“Leoben swears he doesn’t know anything more. I think he’s lying, but I’ve tried everything to get more out of him and can’t,” Kara informed them.
“Have you tried,” Bill hesitated a moment, seemingly unsure if he wanted to finish the question, “drugs?”
Both Kara and Lee looked confused. “What kind of drugs?” the younger Adama demanded.
Laura’s eyes were piercing as she studied him through her glasses. “You’re talking about the HYPER program.”
His surprise showing, he met her gaze. “You know about that?” She just raised an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes. “Of course you know about that. Why aren’t you using it?”
“There was a reason that program was scrapped, Bill. The results of every experiment were inconclusive and the rate of fatalities was high. Few of the serums were ever perfected and certainly not the one you’re suggesting. HYPER-476 has a fifty percent chance of death.”
“Stop,” Kara demanded and Laura and Bill turned to the two agents. “What the frak are you two talking about? HYPER program? Serums? Four-seven ... whatever?
The Director and the Chief exchanged a look and then Bill started, “HYPER was a highly classified military program conducted about two decades ago, focused on drug experimentation. Mind control substances and the like. HYPER-476 was one of the drugs created, used for interrogation purposes. It put the subject in such a state of anxiety that they believed their very survival was on the line.”
Lee looked shocked, horrified even. “The Fleet was creating mind control substances?”
It was Laura who responded. “Both of you would have been too young to remember, but twenty, twenty-five years ago were troublesome times for the Colonies. Paranoia about the Cylons returning was still high; Sagittaron was fighting for equal rights. Anti-unification groups were running rampant, it even looked as if a war would break out between Picon and Libron.”
“Cylon sympathizing groups were a big problem,” Bill continued. “And the crazies on the opposite end of the spectrum who thought we should go back to living in the dark ages and were willing to force their belief on everyone.”
“I remember learning a bit about it at school, and in War College, but ...” Lee trailed off.
Laura brought them back on track. “The point is, the Agency hasn’t used hallucinogens on prisoners in a long time and Leoben is a civilian arms dealer. A criminal, yes, but can we risk killing him in order to confirm where the attack will take place?”
“We may have to,” Bill said seriously. “He’s just an arms dealer, yeah, but he’s also a known associate of a Cylon who has a bomb that can kill thousands. A bomb he provided her with.”
Silent contemplation reigned for a long minute. Lee wanted to say something, wanted to voice his belief that no, they absolutely could not use an experimental drug on a civilian prisoner, but his father had a point. Leoben had armed a Cylon, maybe not knowing what she was, but he’d done it nonetheless. And thinking her just a terrorist and handing over a big old bomb was certainly bad enough.
“We’re on a time limit, too,” he stated quietly, not comfortable with promoting the idea, but even less comfortable with the devastating effects if they took a gamble on the President’s Ball and were wrong.
Roslin nodded. “The needs of the many,” she stated, equally as subdued as Lee, meeting his eyes in a moment of understanding. “I’ll call the lab, we should have a sample in stock. If not, I know where to get it. Get Leoben ready,” she ordered, looking at Kara.
“How?”
“Keep him awake for the next twenty-four hours. No food, no water, no light. This time tomorrow I want him strapped to a gurney in the interrogation room."
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Rating: M
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Adama/Roslin
Author's Note: For summary, categories, disclaimer and warnings, see Chapter One. You guys! So frakking forgiving. Best fandom ever. It's so good to be back.
Because you deserve it ...
Chapter Twenty-Four: What Will Come
It had been years since Laura had stepped foot in a temple and it was difficult to suppress the memories of three long, polished, wooden caskets as she did now. The large round room was near empty this time, but the incense alone incited thoughts of hundreds of saddened people crammed in, the haunting sounds of the death hymn, her brother-in-laws ashen face, his eyes long past devastated and forevermore empty, unwaveringly staring at a horrifically smaller version of the coffins.
She had to take a deep breath as she sat heavily on a darkened pew near the back. There was a reason she avoided places of worship. Ever since she was a teenager, they had stopped symbolizing uplifting faith and become one of the key sets in her personal drama of loss and grief.
“This is the first time in our long acquaintance that you’ve come to me, Laura Roslin. You must be deeply troubled.”
The voice didn’t startle her, even though she hadn’t heard anyone approach. She’d long since become accustomed to Elosha’s mysterious ways, certain that in another life she was a masterful spy.
She cocked her head, glancing over at the priestess who was suddenly sitting on the pew beside her. “Not deeply so, no. I just needed to get out for awhile.”
Elosha gave her a smile. “You lie terribly well. A skill of your profession, no doubt. Have you ever considered trying your hand at the high stakes triad tables?”
“I’ll enter the tournament when I retire.”
“I believe the change of career would be wise. Not only would your income increase, so would your life expectancy.”
Laura laughed. “Peace at last.”
“So say we all.”
They watched for a moment in companionable silence as another priestess across the room removed burnt out candles and replaced them with new ones, lighting them in a most reverential way, before Elosha questioned, “Why have you come to a place you so detest?”
“I don’t ever remember saying I detested temples,” Laura replied.
Elosha smiled again. “You avoid them as if you fear that faith is an infectious disease you don’t wish to catch.”
“Maybe I do,” Laura sighed. “I’ve come to speak with you.”
“That much is understood and in fact, I would be quite insulted if you were here to speak with one of the other priests. What troubles you?”
“I wanted to ask you what the Scriptures say about prophecy,” Laura told her.
Elosha obviously wasn’t expecting the response; she leaned back slightly and raised an eyebrow in question. “Prophecy?” The Director nodded and so the priestess took a moment to think and then told her, “Most of the Scriptures don’t mention it at all as prophecy implies there is an unchangeable destiny and it is stated repeatedly that the Gods gave us free will so that we may choose our own destinies.”
“But there is something, isn’t there? I don’t remember much about the Scriptures, but my mother read them to me when I was young and I can vaguely recall something.”
“The book of Pythia,” Elosha said. “She supposedly tells of a great tragedy befalling the people, forcing them to flee their homes and take to the stars.” Meeting Laura’s eyes, she asked, “Will you tell me why you are suddenly so curious about such things?”
Laura paused a long moment and then said, “We have a prisoner. She said ... she said that I was a target of our enemies because I was foretold.” It was only as she repeated the words to a third party that she realized how ridiculous her conversation with Gina had been.
She was about to tell Elosha to forget it entirely when the priestess told her, “The only prominent character foretold by Pythia was the dying leader.”
“I’m sorry?”
“’And the Lords anointed a leader to guide the caravan of the heavens to their new homeland’,” Elosha quoted. “It is said that the new leader suffered a wasting disease and would not live to enter the promised land.”
Laura froze for a moment. “What kind of wasting disease?”
“The writings are not specific. But if you are thinking of your cancer, that you may be the dying leader, do not worry yourself over it. Your tumor has been removed.”
“And if it comes back?”
“You’re taking what this prisoner said seriously.”
“Yes,” Laura said immediately, then shook her head. “No. No, I’m not, I just ... I don’t know why I’m here. I suppose I was hoping you would tell me that it’s a load of crap.”
Elosha smiled her enigmatic smile. “It is a load of crap.”
Startled, the Director met her eyes. “It is?”
“Do you truly believe that the Scriptures foretold that you would lead the people through space to a new home after these ones are destroyed?” Not really expecting an answer, Elosha went on, “I prefer the part of the writings that tell us we make our own destiny. It makes our time here seem so much more important, don’t you think?
“But if this is really bothering you, Laura, then perhaps you should think about those teachings from your childhood and remember that the Scriptures say a lot of things that aren’t true.”
“Coming from a priestess, it reminds me why I’m not a firm believer.”
“Even those of us that are secure in our faith can question what we are told by our Gods. The writings also say that the first human was shaped out of mud and the first woman is responsible for all evil and suffering in the world.” She smirked, “I say man is far more likely to cause suffering. The stories in the Scriptures are purposely open to interpretation and meant to be understood as the metaphors they are, rarely taken literally.”
Chuckling deeply, Laura met Elosha’s eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome. But this is not all that worries you.”
“No,” Laura sighed. “In fact, right now it’s pretty low on the list of things that are worrying me. I was just curious I suppose. They tried to kill me and I don’t know why.”
“Perhaps it is merely because they can sense the threat you are. Whether you are the dying leader, or the Director of the Agency, you are not a woman to be trifled with, Laura Roslin. Though, if you start having hallucinations of serpents, be sure to let me know.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Lee and Kara had been released from Life Station, pending another few tests, and were now sitting in the Directors office. She was obviously still pissed at them, but as she had said, she needed them. They’d been filling out mountains of backlogged paperwork - part of their punishment - so to be in on the meeting was somewhat of a respite.
“The President’s Ball?” Bill questioned with a frown, leaning back against the couch and thinking deeply.
Kara frowned too. “It’s all we can think of. There’ll be celebrations everywhere on Colonial Day, of course, but if I were a crazy Cylon hoping to damage mankind, then that would be my target.”
“We can’t really rule out the parades, or the large park gatherings, if they’re just going for a big bang with high casualties, but strategically the President’s Ball would be the best hit. The President, the cabinet, the Quorum. Admiral’s and high ranking officials. It would devastate society’s structure,” Lee commented.
Roslin sighed. “We’ve no way at all to confirm this?”
“Leoben swears he doesn’t know anything more. I think he’s lying, but I’ve tried everything to get more out of him and can’t,” Kara informed them.
“Have you tried,” Bill hesitated a moment, seemingly unsure if he wanted to finish the question, “drugs?”
Both Kara and Lee looked confused. “What kind of drugs?” the younger Adama demanded.
Laura’s eyes were piercing as she studied him through her glasses. “You’re talking about the HYPER program.”
His surprise showing, he met her gaze. “You know about that?” She just raised an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes. “Of course you know about that. Why aren’t you using it?”
“There was a reason that program was scrapped, Bill. The results of every experiment were inconclusive and the rate of fatalities was high. Few of the serums were ever perfected and certainly not the one you’re suggesting. HYPER-476 has a fifty percent chance of death.”
“Stop,” Kara demanded and Laura and Bill turned to the two agents. “What the frak are you two talking about? HYPER program? Serums? Four-seven ... whatever?
The Director and the Chief exchanged a look and then Bill started, “HYPER was a highly classified military program conducted about two decades ago, focused on drug experimentation. Mind control substances and the like. HYPER-476 was one of the drugs created, used for interrogation purposes. It put the subject in such a state of anxiety that they believed their very survival was on the line.”
Lee looked shocked, horrified even. “The Fleet was creating mind control substances?”
It was Laura who responded. “Both of you would have been too young to remember, but twenty, twenty-five years ago were troublesome times for the Colonies. Paranoia about the Cylons returning was still high; Sagittaron was fighting for equal rights. Anti-unification groups were running rampant, it even looked as if a war would break out between Picon and Libron.”
“Cylon sympathizing groups were a big problem,” Bill continued. “And the crazies on the opposite end of the spectrum who thought we should go back to living in the dark ages and were willing to force their belief on everyone.”
“I remember learning a bit about it at school, and in War College, but ...” Lee trailed off.
Laura brought them back on track. “The point is, the Agency hasn’t used hallucinogens on prisoners in a long time and Leoben is a civilian arms dealer. A criminal, yes, but can we risk killing him in order to confirm where the attack will take place?”
“We may have to,” Bill said seriously. “He’s just an arms dealer, yeah, but he’s also a known associate of a Cylon who has a bomb that can kill thousands. A bomb he provided her with.”
Silent contemplation reigned for a long minute. Lee wanted to say something, wanted to voice his belief that no, they absolutely could not use an experimental drug on a civilian prisoner, but his father had a point. Leoben had armed a Cylon, maybe not knowing what she was, but he’d done it nonetheless. And thinking her just a terrorist and handing over a big old bomb was certainly bad enough.
“We’re on a time limit, too,” he stated quietly, not comfortable with promoting the idea, but even less comfortable with the devastating effects if they took a gamble on the President’s Ball and were wrong.
Roslin nodded. “The needs of the many,” she stated, equally as subdued as Lee, meeting his eyes in a moment of understanding. “I’ll call the lab, we should have a sample in stock. If not, I know where to get it. Get Leoben ready,” she ordered, looking at Kara.
“How?”
“Keep him awake for the next twenty-four hours. No food, no water, no light. This time tomorrow I want him strapped to a gurney in the interrogation room."
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