Flashbacks Of A Fool Chp 4
Chapter Four
“With Tom and I out of the picture, who’s in charge? The Cylons must have left something in place.” Laura toyed with the edge of her blanket, fingers restless.
“You should be resting.”
“Saul.”
He huffed. “They’ve got the Quorum.”
She nodded, expecting as much. “Most of the city is still divided by colony. They’ll continue that segregation. Turn us against each other, distract us from the real problem.”
“I’m well aware of those kinds of tactics. There aren’t any green kids down here who need your lesson.”
Laura laid her head back down on her pillow with a little more force than necessary, causing her side to twinge. “For frak’s sake, I’m going stir crazy. Let me do something to prevent them from pulling us all apart.”
“What? Going to fold pamphlets? Hold an equal rights rally?”
“Frak, you know what I mean. I need to do something.”
“Get better. And maybe hold a lid on that mouth of yours.” The corner of his mouth curled up. “Who knew you could use language?”
“Twenty years of politics. I know how to swear.”
“This isn’t politics. This is war.”
“They’re going to fight with policies and words. Otherwise they would have wiped us all out from orbit. You can’t go at this like a soldier on the front line.”
He stood, pulling his beanie farther down on his ears, as if to combat the cold, or maybe just her words.
“Get some rest, Laura.”
He turned and walked away from her bed.
“Saul. Damn it, Saul!”
She didn't go back to sleep. She was too worked up. Though she barely had the energy to keep herself sitting, she was restless; and hungry after her long bout with the fever the bullet wound had given her. She was still scrambling to catch up, still unsure of how long she'd been drifting while recovering, and Saul wasn't helping. He was just about the only other person she saw. Vague memories of Cottle swirled in her mind, but that was when she was under his medical attention. They wouldn't risk bringing him down unless she relapsed, no matter how starved she got for conversation. For news.
She needed someone who could walk in the city and the tunnels, as well as still be willing to talk to her.
She needed Tory.
-
63 days before the Occupation
“I didn't realize you were coming down.”
“This isn't a scheduled visit.”
Laura tucked her folders under her arm, looking towards the anxious aide behind Bill. “It's alright, I can stay with him. Why don't you get the president?”
They had to fidget past an unmovable admiral in the aisle in order to get away. She wasn't sure if Bill was being that obstinate or if he was simply too agitated to know to move out of the way.
“What's going on?”
He turned to stare out of one of the windows. It wasn't very windy that day, and the smoke from the power plant was hanging over the tent city.
“You have to tell me what's happening Bill, or I can't help.”
“There's a new bill going to the Quorum.”
There were a lot of new bills going to the Quorum. Policy was being written and rewritten with a speed she was sure would confuse the history books, once they got to having history books again. “You'll have to be more specific.”
“Granting special incentives for soldiers if they choose to settle.”
“They have to choose.”
He finally turned to face her fully. “You knew about this?”
“It's for soldiers with families or who are interested in starting families, Bill. We need the incentives to help keep the population growth. To help start population growth; and considering the service record of everyone under your command since the attack, it was agreed the incentives were justified.”
He looked away from her, and the tight line of his shoulders didn't relax.
The line about needing to start having babies was on the tip of her tongue, but she held back. He didn't seem to be in a particularly receptive mood.
“Are Lee and Dee thinking about settling?” She moved towards one of the secretary desks, giving him space and looking for a place to set down her things.
“What?”
“I'm trying to understand why you're so upset about this.”
“Upset?”
“Is there another way you'd describe how you're acting right now?”
“You told me the greenhouse transfers weren't permanent.”
She stifled a sigh, tempted to toss down her things and put her hands on her hips. Did he really need to be so indirect? “They aren't, and any soldier wanting to settle still has to get cleared through you. If your men are forgetting protocol I believe that's a matter that needs to be settled on your end.” Laura crossed her arms, turning to face him.
His anger seemed to vanish, and he dropped himself into one of the ship's seats. “Giving them the idea that this could be a permanent home... it seems cruel.”
“This is where we are, Bill.” She approached him slowly, not sure if she should take a seat herself.
“This isn't Earth.”
“No, it's not.”
“Are you going to be able to uproot them once this charade with Zarek is done?”
She froze. “What?”
“They've already lost their homes, they aren't going to want to do it again.”
“What do you think we're doing here?”
“Surviving.”
“Yes.” She tentatively took the seat across from him. “Despite the odds, the human race is surviving, on this planet. With Zarek in charge.”
“Are we just waiting for disaster? That flood, an earthquake, the Cylons?”
No matter how fuzzy her memory was due to her lack of sobriety that night, Laura could easily recall the heat from his body when she'd curled up at his side, and the words that had so easily tumbled out of her mouth. Maybe this is it.
“I'm not waiting for disaster, I'm trying to keep it from happening.”
“By waiting to find Earth?”
What was she supposed to do? Ignore the government and pour over star charts? “How is waiting on Galactica so much more productive than what I'm doing down here?”
“If the-”
“If. Is that all we're supposed to base out lives off now? What if? I thought you were past that. This is it. This is what we have.”
“You never wanted this for the people.”
He looked sad, and it made her angry. “My personal preferences don't win out over them, no matter what disaster could be waiting for us. You used to think that, in fact, you made sure of it.”
Whatever thought that had calmed him down enough to let him sit was gone, and suddenly he was standing.
“You can't claim to be fighting for these people when what you want when only lead them to more heartache. Just because it gives you something to do doesn't mean its what they need.”
Laura stayed seated, listening to his footsteps as he left, and then listening to the hum of electricity through the ship when they were gone. She was either late, or had missed her next appointment with the Quorum representatives. Getting them to calm down and not take it as a personal slight was going to be a hassle.
A shadow fell over her and she looked up to see Tom.
“I was told the Admiral was waiting?”
“He left.”
-
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