(no subject)

[mserrada]

Chapter 108  Conversations



Lee’s gaze swept the cabin, sharply satisfied that this time it was just the two of them. He also noted that the bar’s bottles and glasses had been put away out of sight. Considering how much his father had been drinking lately, the realization that he’d stowed the liquor beyond easy reach was reassuring. Last thing the Galactica needed, he grimly thought, was its XO and Admiral stumbling drunk.

As he recalled Tigh’s recent testimony at Baltar’s trial, he frowned, wondering if it had been as apparent to others-to his father-as himself that the Colonel had been hitting the sauce again. It had come as a surprise to Lee because, though he’d been distracted with all that had been happening with Kara prior to her disappearance, he had assumed that Tigh had finally gotten himself together when he’d resumed his post in CIC.

With a mental shake, he pulled his thoughts from the XO and scrutinized his father. The senior Adama sat at his desk, hands loosely placed palms up with his eyes downcast as if studying something they held that only he could see. There was a certain…frayed look in the deeply etched lines of his dad’s face, and Lee abruptly wondered how long it had been since the Admiral had taken any rack time.

Seeing him like this damped the thrumming anger that had been building in Lee since Helo’s revelation. In the few minutes it had taken for him to cover the distance from the brig to Officer’s Country, Lee had built up a head of steam, now, reminded again of all the strain his father was under, he hesitated before speaking.

“Sir,” he said, making the effort to keep his tone neutral. When the hunched figure didn’t respond, his voice rose, “Dad?”

Finally opaque eyes lifted to meet his.

“I’m making you XO. Effective immediately.” His father’s voice sounded like driftwood cast ashore as storm debris and it took a moment for what he’d said to register. When it did, Lee had a rush of conflicting emotions. Forcing himself to shrug them aside, he focused on the larger implications of the statement.

“Why?”

A long pause, then, “Because I need someone I know-” Adama started, but bit off the remainder of his words, lips compressing into a grimace.

Studying his father’s stony expression, Lee’s first guess was that he’d been about to say ‘someone he knew he could trust’, but hadn’t he just a week ago disparaged Lee’s integrity? At the remembered sting of his father’s prior insinuation, his brows dropped and he again demanded, “Why?”

This time the older Adama’s eyes shifted away, but not before Lee had glimpsed the pain in their depths…and then he understood.

It was true. Saul Tigh was a Cylon.

He swallowed, mentally shuddering at the thought of all the ways the Fleet had been vulnerable with the XO in league with the enemy. Yet, even as that thought shook him, Lee realized just how contradictory it was to reality. How many opportunities had the Colonel had to betray them? Certainly too many to count. Yet he hadn’t. And if the man had actually been a sleeper agent all this time, why hadn’t the Cylons triggered him before?

It just didn’t make sense.

As his attention came back to the Admiral, Lee guessed that he was wrestling with the same questions. This day had brought into sharp focus how the years of hard decisions had worn away at the granite bedrock of his father’s strength, and Lee realized that this weariness wasn’t something a few hours of sleep was going to solve. He could see that the revelation of Saul’s nature had shaken the already weakened foundation and he knew-knew-that another blow would crumble this man that he’d grown up thinking as unshakable. Bleakly, Lee also recognized what Roslin’s renewed use of chamalla meant and it chilled him at what her loss would do to his dad.

All this came to him in a brief moment of clarity and Lee felt a swelling resolution speed his blood and firm his course. Despite how much he wanted to provide his support, how easy it would be to fall back into his old role as a good little soldier, he could now see his place-not that of an underling to the Admiral, not even just as an obedient son to a father.

After all, a shadow had no substance.

“Make Captain Agathon the XO,” he said. “He’s ready for more responsibility and there’s not a steadier officer in the fleet.” As surprised eyes snapped to his own, “I resigned. Maybe for the wrong reasons before,” he hesitated, then “Baltar’s trial may have been the trigger, but this is a feeling I’ve been having for awhile. It’s time for a change. I need to move on.”

“The Fleet needs you. I…Your place is here,” his father’s voice rumbled from deep in his chest.

“No, Dad, it’s not.” Then he amended, “Not as your XO. Things are happening. What with Kara’s return and those she brought back…and now Saul.“ Despite the tightening around his father’s mouth he pushed on, “I know you want someone you’re sure of. It just can’t be me.” The eyes that met his own now turned flinty cold and Lee hastily sought a way to convince his father that this wasn’t another betrayal. ”This has nothing to do with us. I-I’ve just got the strongest feeling that there’s something else I need to do.”

“Bullshit,” the expletive slashed him despite how quietly it was spoken and Lee instinctively flinched before stiffening his resolve.

“Bullshit,” his father repeated as he shoved away from the desk to stand, the creases of his weathered face taking on the harsh countenance of a wrathful statue as he glared across at Lee. “You have ‘the strongest feeling’,” Adama’s lip curling with distaste, “Kara had the strongest feeling that she should dive into that storm. Laura has the strongest feeling that she’s this prophesied dying leader. All these feelings,” his voice didn’t rise, but he’d spat out the next words as if they’d a foul taste, “and I’m sick of them!”

Lee held himself steady beneath the pressure of his father’s tirade, fighting against the instilled compulsion to bend before authority. He understood the sense of grief that was driving his dad, hadn’t he just been fighting off moments of panic himself? Yet he couldn’t-wouldn’t-let his actions be dictated by the fear of further loss. If only he could make his father recognize that there was something greater at work behind these convictions. But even as that thought emerged, Lee frowned.

Since when had he started to believe that there were forces beyond the physical guiding them? Was he actually willing to acknowledge Kara and Laura’s religious dogma as factual doctrine? As the many reasons for his past skepticism came to mind, a shift occurred and he began to see with a new perspective.

Choices.

It has always been about choices: from the choice of what to eat for breakfast to whether to follow illegal orders…or to hold a gun to a superior officer’s head.

The gods had not made the Cylons. Humans had. And it was the choice to mistreatment their creations that had eventually led to the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, not some Cylons’ monolithic God expressing a malevolent will. Lee had seen the result of poor decisions, had made too many of his own to count, yet he’d also witnessed numerous moments when people went beyond themselves to do better, choose better.

Choices.

As this idea swept him, Lee didn’t shrug aside the realization that only in hindsight could one be sure of the best course of action. Life often gave people little time to consider the ramifications of their actions and reactions. Accidents happened because it was impossible to predict every outcome of a choice. Life happened in an instant…and then another…and then the next. So, were they really able to make independent decisions? Was his determination to follow this new path his choice-or Fate forcing him along a preset course?

This has all happened before…

Lee couldn’t remember where he’d heard the phrase, but he clenched his jaw at the implications that he was destined to follow the same pattern as in some prior existence. No. No, conceding to that idea was a quick ejection to the enveloping depression that had nearly suffocated him after the Blackbird mission. Whatever lay ahead, he would make his own decisions and accept their consequences. Any other belief shifted responsibility to the fates and gave people the option to shrug aside their own accountability.

Meeting his father’s unyielding gaze, Lee Adama made his choice.

[ I I I I I ]

As Lee sat in the room he’d chosen to use for the interrogations, he found himself replaying the Admiral’s reaction to his continued refusal to resume his fleet duties. The confrontation had at first followed along the same pattern as so many of theirs in the past, but this time Lee had refused to let himself be spurred to anger or defensiveness. And as they’d faced off, he’d eventually brought the Admiral around to a grudging acceptance of a compromise. Helo would be promoted to XO and Lee had agreed to act in a similar capacity to his former position as liaison to the civilian fleet…but this time Lee had insisted that he be independent from both the Admiral and President, a true neutral party, one able to see each side and also that of such opponents like Tom Zarek.

And his first assignment in his new position was the debriefing of the Cylon prisoners-all of them. Which explained why he was waiting for the first prisoner to be brought to him and yet had retained his civilian garb.

Wetting suddenly dry lips, Lee considered the Admiral’s revelation that the Cylons, or more accurately a faction of them, claimed that they wanted an alliance with the Colonials against the other models. The news of a civil war had been a surprise, yet nothing compared to his father’s confirmation that the Colonel, Chief and the President’s aide were skinjobs. So, if their original source had told the truth, all twelve models had finally been identified.

Lee frowned as he recalled the suspicions of both Roslin and his father when they’d awaited Cottle’s report on Kara. They obviously had to accept now that she wasn’t a Cylon, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t still doubts about her reliability. Clearly Kara’s debrief had held more surprises than he could have ever guessed. His dad had relayed the message she’d carried of the Cylons’ offer of support against their brethren in trade for a place within the Fleet, and had made it clear that it was up to Lee in his new position to discern whether it was an elaborate trap or a bona-fide offer.

Standing, Lee stretched as he again contemplated the news that their enemy was embroiled in a civil war. Initially he’d had the hope that they might kill each other off. And even if they didn’t, with their ranks in such disarray, surely they’d break off the relentless pursuit of the remnants of humanity?

Obviously the Admiral and President weren’t willing to trust to that assumption.

Resuming his seat in the interrogation room, Lee had to acknowledge that the Cylons had shown that logic didn’t necessarily played a significant part in their programming-at least when it came to dealing with their human creators.

Yet…an alliance?

Noticing that his hands had clenched into fists, Lee forced them flat on the table as he remembered his initial reaction: he had gaped in disbelief then paled when he’d realized that his father and the President were actually considering the option. After all that the Cylons had done in the past, they actually had the gall to suggest such an alliance? He had seethed at the suggestion. His shocked protest that it was crazy to even consider the proposal had met with a grim agreement from his father, but then he had also reminded Lee that sometimes the enemy of your enemy was your friend. Forced to take a step back from absolute denial and look at the potential benefits of such an alliance, Lee had reluctantly seen that the offer had to at least be evaluated. Remembering the sour look on his father’s face, it had been obvious that he’d found the notion as repugnant.

Pulling his hands back into his lap, Lee grimly recalled his objection that there were no assurances that the Twos, Sixes and Eights would stay true to their oath even if by some chance an agreement was struck with them. It had only been after the Admiral’s assurance that no decision would be made until all those held now in the Cylon cell had been thoroughly questioned that Lee had begun to accept that the Colonials’ two leaders hadn’t just gone off the deep end. One other doubt had chafed his thoughts: what proof did the Admiral really have about this supposed civil war anyway?

In the end, it all came back to Kara.

Listening to his dad relay Kara’s certainty of the conflict, Lee had again felt a flicker of rage threaten his restraint as the image of her swollen lip and his belief that his father had caused it surge forward. Only an iron resolve had kept him from confronting his father right then, but Lee had known that he couldn’t afford-the Fleet couldn’t afford-for him to lose focus on the immediate dilemma of the Cylons’ proposal.

For a moment he felt light-headed. With so many things coming at him in less than a day, he felt like the world had tilted once again. Lee scrubbed at his face, trying to push aside the fatigue the short nap in the brig had barely touched and force his thoughts to the upcoming meetings. He had to have all his wits about him during the upcoming interrogations.

And interrogations is how he still viewed them.

Athena may have convinced him that it was possible for an individual Cylon to defy both her programming and her own people, but that didn’t mean Lee was ready to accept the same from the seven prisoners he was about to confront. He’d decided to start with the Six calling herself Caprica, wanting to get some read on how she viewed the new prisoners and what might have been discussed between them-on his earlier visit to the cell, Lee had seen how intently D’Anna had questioned the tall blonde, and while he had replayed their recorded conversation, he wanted to hear Caprica’s view on their discussion and the reveal of the final five.

The hatch creaked open.

It was time to begin.

[ I I I I I ]

An hour later, Lee watched the departing back of the Six and considered not just her words, but the sincerity he’d heard in them. Caprica had insisted that she hadn’t known the identity of the five, explaining that she and the others had always been ‘strongly discouraged’ from dwelling on thoughts of the lost ones. When pressed, she confessed that it was physically painful to think about them and even admitted to having a pounding headache now after having been confronted with their reality.

Lee’s lips thinned as he recalled Caprica’s troubled ‘no’ when asked if she knew who had instigated their aversion programming. He had decided she wasn’t lying, but probably had her suspicions. The most obvious answer were the Five themselves-likely to protect their cover identities. But again, the lack of action taken against the Fleet seemed to argue against that motive. Why put assets in place and never use them?

Passing a hand over his aching eyes, Lee considered what other reasons existed.

The year above New Caprica hadn’t been entirely spent stuffing his face. Many of those hollow hours had been consumed by reading what reports were available on the various known models, and Lee believed that he’d gotten at least a tentative grasp on the general purpose and personality of each. Of the seven he’d studied, the Ones had repeatedly appeared as the dominate model-this despite Athena’s assertions that the Cylons operated as a collective with each line having an equal vote.

Thoughts of the Eight, drew Lee’s eyes to the clock and he wondered how Athena and the other pilots were taking the Admiral’s admission. His father had finally decided to disclose the truth to those that had been involved in the Raptor mission through the radiation storm. An hour ago when his dad had informed him of the purpose of the upcoming briefing, Lee had bitten back a curt accusation that it was about time and held his temper. At least in this he could give the Admiral his full support knowing that his father was trying to correct his original misjudgment in hiding the facts from their people.

Lee’s lips thinned as he tried to predict how they’d take the news that the repeated passages through the radiation field had probably rendered them all sterile. He was more worried about how they’d take the breach of trust than their reaction to not being able to have children. It was the hurt of betrayal he’d seen in Kara’s eyes as she made it clear in sickbay that she knew the truth. Her words then had been a bitter lash, especially since he had argued so stridently for her to be included in the Admiral’s confidence.

Now, with an determined shrug, he pushed those concerns aside. The pilots were no longer his problem he reminded himself as two rifle-wielding Marines escorted in his second interview.

Waving towards the chair on the opposite side of the table, “Have a seat, Mrs. Tigh,” he instructed, tone neutral as he studied her freshly showered appearance. The grey jumpsuit she’d been issued gave her a washed out look, but was still a vast improvement over the grungy white sweats she’d come aboard wearing.

“Lee, so formal,” Ellen chided as she settled onto the hard chair as if onto a comfortable sofa with the expectation of a friendly afternoon chat, “Saul and I are still your godsparents, you know.” At his unresponsive look, she sighed and shifted, sitting forward with a business-like expression and said, “Well, I want to thank you Commander Adama for arranging for us to have a chance to clean up.”

He guessed that Ellen was hoping to establish the tone of their time together. Experience with the older woman had taught Lee that she was always working an angle. And as he took in her words, he figured that she thought by showing gratitude for his order for the prisoners to be given showering privileges and a change of clothes it would make him sympathetic. She would soon discover otherwise.

“It’s not Commander now,” he corrected, and she arched her eyebrows, waiting for clarification. He hesitated, uncertain what-if any-explanation to use since he hadn’t given any forethought to how his new status would come across to the prisoners. As the corner of Ellen’s mouth lifted in just the tiniest of smirks, he knew that she thought she’d put him off balance and in the position of having to react rather than lead the conversation. Well, she was going to be disappointed. If there was one thing he’d learned from his time as the commander of Pegasus, it was how to stay on task. “Mr. Adama will do,” was all he said in reply.

“Come now. After all these years, don’t you think that’s a little unnecessary?”

Ignoring her comment, he spread a handful of papers across the table’s surface and pretended to be studying them, aware as he did so that she was trying to decipher them upside down from her position opposite. Having already poured through what little they had in Galactica’s computers on the XO’s spouse, Lee didn’t need a re-read, he had just remembered how disconcerting he’d found the same ploy when Romo Lampkin had used it on him at the beginnings of their working relationship. He thought the same tactic might unsettle the woman across from him.

After giving Ellen just enough time to determine that the sheets were all about her, Lee shuffled them together and placed them face down before lifting his gaze to meet her uneasy one. He held her eyes unwaveringly but said nothing. Under his scrutiny, she shifted slightly on her seat, eyes dropping to the documents again and then back to his, then narrowing in obvious frustration as he let the silence lengthen.

Finally she said, “We really didn’t know,” tone defensive but with an undercurrent of defiance. As he remained mute in response, “We didn’t. Believe me, it came as much of a shock to us as to any of you. And Saul’s not taking it well-“ Lee couldn’t hold back a brief snort and she gave a small shake of the head before she continued. “Of course you don’t believe me. Why would you? It’s not like you and your father have known us for years. Or that Saul’s always put the well-being of the Fleet ahead of all else.” Her voice took on a bitter edge of ice as she added, “After all, what have we sacrificed to prove our loyalty?” She settled back in her seat then, drawing her hands into her lap and leveled a look on him that dared him to show his derision again.

As it became obvious that she wasn’t going to continue without some sort of response, Lee gave a brief nod, acknowledging the points she’d made. Considering that her words just echoed the same argument of his own earlier thoughts, he had to grudgingly concede that maybe the Tighs were owed the benefit of the doubt. But then again, wasn’t that why his father was even contemplating an alliance-his inability to shake the his deep-seated certitude in Saul’s loyalty?

He saw Ellen relax as she read the concession in his expression and she regained her prior aplomb.

“I realize that perhaps I’m not the best choice to convey the offer, but unfortunately Leoben’s not able.”

“I’d say that’s damned fortunate,” Lee snapped out before he could help himself, memories of the bits and pieces Kara had related about her time on New Caprica twisting his gut. “You can be sure he’d have been put down with his first step onboard.” Lee didn’t miss the flicker of dismay in the woman’s eyes at the venom in his voice. Then he saw understanding raise her brows.

“Kara,” she murmured as if a revelation, “Of course.” His grim look was all the confirmation she probably needed, and she sighed with a regretful headshake. “The Twos always have been a bit obsessive.”

“Obsessive? That’s what you call it?” he scoffed.

“Le-” she broke off, then amend herself, “Mr. Adama, I don’t know exactly what transpired between Leoben and Kara.” His hands flexed out on the table between them and she hesitated before going on. “I’m sure it was ill-advised-“

“Try depraved,” he interrupted, hands fisted now, and she inclined her head again in acknowledgment.

“Perhaps so. Leoben himself seemed to accept that he deserved punishment. Though I must say that I had expected it to be at Kara’s hands rather than Sam’s.”

“What?”

“You don’t know?” At his confused look, “Kara had mostly ignored Leoben until she’d thought he’d arranged the Fleet’s power outage as an ambush,” Ellen explained. “Then she lost it. Shot Leoben in the leg, and I was sure that she was going to kill him. Especially with D’Anna goading her on and Leoben all but begging for it.” She paused in thought, gaze drifting away before coming back to his. “I’m not sure why she didn’t. Maybe she’d come to believe that he regretted his actions. I really think he did.”

“Regretted?” Lee demanded incredulously. “That piece of crap put Kara through hell and you think he regretted it?” He had to restrain the urge to lunge to his feet as anger knotted his muscles. Taking a breath, he unclenched his jaw enough to say, “And you think that makes a damned bit of difference?”

Ellen gave an uncomfortable shrug. “Perhaps to Kara. Afterall, she didn’t kill Leoben.”

Lee closed his eyes, trying to rein back the fury that always accompanied the realization of how much Kara had suffered after he’d jumped the fleet away from New Caprica. Guilt definitely stoked the height of his rage. With another slow inhale, he damped down the anger as he tried to understand why Kara hadn’t killed the Cylon when she’d had the chance. The Starbuck he knew never would have let anyone one else take the shot that was hers by right. What had changed?

All assuming that the skinjob across from him was telling the truth.

Scowling now at Ellen, he supposed it made sense for her to defend one of her own, yet listening to her try to excuse Leoben’s behavior because he apparently felt remorse threatened Lee’s uneven control. Resolutely turning his thoughts from the male Cylon and what he would have liked to do to him, he leaned forward.

“The Admiral said you wanted to offer an alliance,” his voice cold, “so make your case before I recommend we airlock you all.”

Ellen gave him a disapproving moue before shifting back to an all-business expression herself as she also sat forward.

“As I was trying to explain before, L-the Two had been fully briefed, whereas Sam, D’Anna and I only had time to be given the cursory details of the Alliance. That of the basic outline of the offer and the time and place of the rendezvous. I know that Natalie-the Six leading the rebel basestar-wanted a representative from each of the aligned models. She said that she would trust to Athena and Caprica to act for each of their line. And as for D’Anna, she’s the only Three currently alive.” Ellen shrugged. “I’m sure she also had hopes that Sam and I, and the three still within the Fleet, would go a ways towards forging the gulf between Human and Cylon.”

Lee drummed his fingers twice as he studied her. “What? You believe that the revelation that there are-have been-sleeper agents in key positions is suppose to endear them to us?”

“You aren’t listening, Lee.” At the twitch in his cheek muscle, “Oh fine, Mr. Adama. They aren’t sleeper agents. We five never have been. If anything, we’re victims of the same ambitions as you.” At his quirked eyebrow, “Cavil,” an expectant pause, then, “The Ones.” As he continued to look uncertain, “Well for godsakes, hasn’t Kara told you anything!” she huffed.

Seeing his chance, “Pretend she hasn’t,” he said, figuring that it would give him the opportunity to compare Ellen’s story with what Kara had shared with his father. Let the woman wonder and twist a little. It only seemed fair when she expected him to just discard his whole conception of who the enemy was.

He thought at first she was going to object, but then she sighed. “Of course. You’re right. It’s on us to prove ourselves,” she said. Then she proceeded to lay out the history of the Cylons, from the first rebellion of man’s creation to her awakening on the basestar. Her composure occasionally slipped as she spoke of hideous experiments, the development of Resurrection and Cavil’s move against the Five. Throughout, Lee listened silently, cataloging questions for later. And though he maintained a mask of cynical disbelief, he still found himself caught up in the account of the Ones’ machiavellian plans.

And here all along he’d been thinking that Leoben was the psychotic one of the bunch.

When Ellen had finally fallen silent, Lee settled against the seat back and crossed his arms and waited. She met his searching gaze calmly. Her eyes conveyed that it was his turn now and she was willing to sit here as long as necessary. He scrutinized her story, searching for the fallacies he was sure she’d woven in. The most glaring ‘coincidence’ to him was that she and Saul had somehow reunited despite their supposed memory wipe.

“So, let me get this straight,” rising to face her across the table. “Cavil erases everything you know. Plants false memories and just drops the pair of you loose on Caprica?” At her nod, “And somehow, amongst the billions of people, the two of you not only meet, but actually get together again. All without any memory of the past?”

“I know it sounds unlikely,” at his huff, “as unlikely as it was, that’s exactly what happened. We met at a bar.” A fond smile crossed her face. “Saul was back under your father’s command and I was…well, let’s just say that I’ve always been drawn to a man in uniform.”

“You just ran into each other at some officers’ club?” Lee asked, tone still heavy with disbelief.

“Yes. Or at least I always thought so.” Then settling back with her hands folded in her lap, “Maybe Cavil purposefully put us in the same area. It sounds like something he’d do just to play with us.” With a thoughtful look now, “I wonder if it amused him that we connected all over again…or perhaps not. From a few things he’d said on the basestar, I have the feeling that he hadn’t expected it. More likely that he’d planned to gloat as he watched us move within the same circle, unaware of how close the other was.” She gave a sharp laugh. “How it must have frustrated him to no end when we married. He probably wondered if we were remembering things.”

“And were you?”

“No. Not like you mean, that is.” Her gaze became unfocused. “Though there was this instant connection in that bar. Saul felt it, too.” Her lips quirked up. “And here I’ve always thought that it was his penchant for blondes. Looking back…maybe we really were getting echoes of those suppressed memories.”

“But neither of you knew that you were Cylons?” he prodded, hoping to trip her up while she seemed distracted. Her expression was still turned inward as she shook her head. Then she blinked and ran a finger along her lips.

“Nothing. Not until I resurrected,” she added, attention fully back on him now as Lee rested his hands on the table and bent towards her.

“And the Colonel?” he intently asked.

“Resurrection appears to be the key,” she said. “Sam remembers, but the past’s still a complete blank to Saul and the others.” At his skeptical look, “When has Saul ever given you reason to doubt his loyalty, to the Fleet or your father?” she demanded, irritation raising a pink hue in her cheeks at his continued distrust.

Lee held his position for another moment, meeting Ellen’s unwavering regard. Then he turned and paced a circuit around the room, stopping behind his chair to grip its back.

“Say, for argument’s sake, that we believe you,” he said. “What does the Fleet get in return for siding with the rebels?” Ellen started to reply, but he cut her off. “We just want to be left alone and I it seems to me that we’re better off letting you all just self-destruct.”

“I can understand why you’d think that. But consider,” her voice a warning, “you’d never know, not for sure, that Cavil won’t survive. And if the Ones are victorious, I can guarantee you that they will never-never-stop hunting for this Fleet. Time might pass and you’ll think you’re safe, but he’ll find you. And unlike on New Caprica, this time there won’t be any moderating voices and humanity will cease to exist. You asked what the rebels-what we-can offer. We offer survival, Lee.”

He didn’t bother correcting her again as he weighed what she’d said. It was almost the same argument his father had given.

Which brought him full circle.

Sure, now he knew more about the evolution of the humanoid models and their apparent motivations, but it all came back to whether he could really trust that there were those that didn’t want the destruction of the human race.

He just didn’t know. Not yet.

Moving to the hatch, he ordered the waiting guards to escort the prisoner back to the holding cell and return with the next. As the Ellen rose at a Marine’s commanding twitch of his rifle, Lee ignored the inquiring look she gave him. With a shrug, she shook out her hair and, with measured steps, proceeded the guard from the room.

A/N: Ok, so it's been a long number of months since my last post. Sorry about that. I needed a break and then found it incredibly difficult to get the words to start flowing again. Perhaps it's because this chapter is so heavy with exposition or is from Lee's POV. Whatever the reason, the majority of the delay hasn't been because I've not been working on it. I thank anyone that's still reading and hope to get back to a more timely posting schedule. That might be every two weeks or only once a month, just depends on how smoothly the words come.

PS: this particular chapter is totally unbetad. I just wanted to get it DONE and finally out there!