The Rising Red- Chapter 4- ‘Laura Roslin-The Woman, The Human…The Survivor.'
BSG Fic- The Rising Red
(It's also uploaded at Survival Instinct for those who prefer that format.)
Summary: An angsty and slightly AU fic surrounding Adama and Roslin. The President's life is jeopardy and it's only a matter of time until it's too late.
Rated: M
Disclaimer: These character are unfortunatley not mine! I'm just puttin them into my own little storyline to keep me entertained until Season 4!
It's set after Epiphanies and before Sacrifice in Season 2.
Thanks to my Betas
laharah and
trickalicious78 for getting me though this!
Chapter 4- ‘Laura Roslin-the woman, the human…the survivor’ -Word count 7695
Chapter 1 can be found here.
Chapter 2 can be found here.
Chapter 3 can be found here
Bill stood, leaning over the dradis console taking deep breaths to control himself as he listened to the fizzing of the ended transmission. His head began spinning as he contemplated his son’s and Kara’s current situation. Things were taking a very dramatic turn and spiralling out of control around him. For a brief moment Bill felt like a worried father, knocked back by the sudden and shocking news that his son was in peril. Mentally, he had to battle with the overpowering force of overprotection that welled inside of him for his son. In times like these, as he had already realised, you just wanted to shield your children from danger, and right now he wasn’t succeeding. The urge to run and get him, rescue him, was strong, but who better to save his son and Kara then the Admiral? He had to pull it together. They were in trouble and he was the Admiral, he had to get them out of there.
“I want a full recon squad assembled in the hangar bay in five minutes! I want oxygen masks and body suits worn,” Bill yelled, his face set hard as he gazed over to Tigh who was stood staring at him.
Laura watched from the sidelines as Bill shouted out his orders, her stomach in a knot as she thought of the two people stuck on that ship, their lives in danger. Dread was wreaking havoc inside of her stomach making her feel sick as she looked to the papers still lying on the console. This had to be someone’s idea of a sick and horrible joke. It was almost like being in a nightmare- the people she had grown fond of were paying the price. She couldn’t help but wonder if all of this was her fault. It had all started with her and now slowly the people around her were being targeted. What was the purpose of this? What benefits would this have? The most frustrating thing about it was their lack of knowledge. How do you fight an enemy when you don’t know who or what it is?
A few officers were moving quickly around her and it brought her back to focus. “If there is anything I can do,” she said, her hand resting on Bill’s arm as he ordered the assembly of an extra three marines to escort the recon mission.
When he looked to her she could see the worry behind his eyes, his face remained blank but his eyes were the windows to his soul, and at that moment she could see everything. “Thank you,” he said, nodding gently to her. He picked up the receiver and shouted, “Get me Helo on the line!”
Laura stepped back and looked up to Billy who was staring, looking slightly overwhelmed as he took in the current goings on. When it came to matters like this you always felt helpless as there was always very little that you could do. Her hand came to her stomach as she felt it tighten, a sharp pain travelling through it. Her eyes stayed on Bill as she tried to ignore it. The book said she would experience pain, but would it get worse? Was it just her stomach kicking up a fuss over something she had eaten? Another pain ripped through her, making her bend over slightly against the console.
“Madam President?” Billy said, moving closer towards her.
She stood upright and moved her hair out of her eyes. She couldn’t bail out on Bill at such a critical moment, he was going to need her if anything horrible happened. Although she had vowed to keep him distant from her and her situation, she couldn’t just sit by and watch him writhe in agony as his child and friend were in trouble. “Ugh,” she moaned, another sharp and highly intolerable pain attacking her insides.
Bill who had finished talking to Helo on the phone, caught sight of her as she brought her hand up to her mouth. “What’s wrong?” he mumbled, walking over to her.
When she felt his hand on the top of her arm she shook her head. “I’ll be right back,” she said, moving quickly out of the CIC to go and bring up the contents of her stomach.
Bill stood helpless as he watched her walk briskly off. What was he going to do? It was like everything was crashing down around him, Lee, Kara and Laura. His attention was being compromised. He could tell that Laura had indeed been hiding things from him, and it had become apparent that it had gotten a lot worse since he had last spoken properly to her. Now, his son and Kara were in mortal peril and he wanted to attend to both matters. He returned his gaze to the console as he watched the small raptor icon move towards one of the civilian ships, his stomach twisting as he pondered on the fate of his son.
--
Laura rested her head against the bulkhead of the toilet, her face clammy and pale. At the moment she didn’t know what to do. She knew that she had to go and see Cottle, but she didn’t want to leave Bill until she knew that Lee and Starbuck were ok. Bill was a strong man, and by looking at him she could tell he was trying to hold it together. She wanted to be there regardless as she knew that her presence would be appreciated even if he never expressed the need for her to be there. It was always the same though- he very rarely asked for her help, but she was there anyway.
In terms of things getting bad, it seemed that for her, Bill and the human race it was never easy. Stuck aboard a collection of ships, running for their lives whilst a compilation of Cylon models tried their hardest to destroy them, annihilate them and cause genocide of a whole species seemed to be the beginning. Each and every person aboard the vessels had their own personal problems and conflicts to deal with, some more then others. It was hard to get up every day and face the metal bulkheads, the darkness of space and the continuous pressure that was pressed upon Laura’s shoulders like an anvil. It would make sense for her not to want to do what she did, but she was stubborn and wanted to prove a point- humans were survivors and although they had their faults, they didn’t deserve to be wiped out. Out of everything the humans had ever dreamed up, science, engineering, art and music were remarkable creations. The complex minds of her fellow man had gotten them, however, into the situation they were in now. Their laid back approach to life and the ever-growing need to make life as easy as possible had brought about the creation of the Cylon- the would be destroyers of mankind. Even if in the eyes of the Cylons, the humans were greedy, aggressive and sometimes quite possessive it still didn’t justify what they were doing. Everyone had their flaws, as did the Cylon models. As did Laura and Bill. As did every single living being.
Since the beginning, when it all began, Laura had to overcome so much. She had to realise that she was not just the ‘Secretary of Education,’ anymore, she was the leader and President of the remainder of the Twelve Colonies. People, at first, mocked her because of her past, they didn’t trust her- especially Bill. Since then she has had to overcome her own fears and trepidations to stand tall and to make the people realise that she was going to do her best to save them. The cancer she had tried to ignore for so long had brought her near death and she had fought right until she could no longer comprehend sounds and recognise faces. She was pulled back into the realm of the living through Baltar's act of injecting her with Hera's blood. She thought that it would get easier, but it hadn’t. Now her life was hanging in the balance and she didn’t know what to do. In fact, there wasn’t much she could do. At least when she had cancer she always knew that it would end the way it would. But now, she knew that she could either survive or perish, and it frightened her. Things could be done and said, someone could catch the culprit or Baltar and his wonderful mind could come up with something. There were so many possibilities, so many paths, and now she stood at a forked road, wondering which path she was going to take. It was a situation she had never found herself in before and every time she thought about it, her mind cringed and she had to keep herself together so she wouldn’t fall apart. It wasn’t just fear, it was the overwhelming sense of helplessness that worried her.
Her thin fingers traced the lines of the cold bulkhead as she busied herself with more idle thought, trying to overpower her nausea and think about her situation. She wanted to make it all better, for herself, Bill and the thousands of people out there who were finding living a struggle. Earth was a hope that she clung to, hoped for and she wasn’t going to give it up without a fight. She would keep her chin held high until she could do so no longer. Laura Roslin, the President of the Twelve Colonies, the former secretary of education, the fighter, the strength, the lover, the woman, the human…the survivor.
The box in her pocket rattled as she stood up, pressing her hand against her stomach as the pain ripped through her. The survivor. She eyed herself in the mirror and adjusted her posture so her head was held high. She took out the pills in her pocket and placed two in her mouth, ready to take on Bill and the CIC. If she could just hold on for a little while, just until she knew that she wasn’t needed. She hoped that these painkillers would act fast as she splashed cold water over her face. She had to be there for him, the way he was for her.
--
Bill turned around when he saw the doors to the CIC open, Laura stepped in, with her guard at her heels. When the light of all the CIC monitors washed over her face he could see how pale she had gone in the space of a few minutes and it worried him. His eyes strayed back to the monitors for a few moments, hearing the orders and tactics of Helo on the speakers.
“Any news?” Laura said, her hand resting over her stomach as she too looked at the monitors.
“No, the recon squad has just pulled up to the Carina. They’re going to have to cut through the hull because we can’t make contact with anyone inside.” He moved his glasses closer to his eyes and looked down to her. “Are you ok, Madam President?”
Laura nodded her head and picked up the folded papers that were still lying on the console. “I’m fine thank you, Admiral.”
“Madam President?” Billy said, getting her attention.
“Excuse me,” she said to Bill as he stared intensely at all the monitors around him. She moved off so Billy could talk to her.
“This is Lieutenant Agathon, we’ve gotten though the hull and are now entering the inside of the Carina.”
All heads in the CIC lifted so they could hear what was going on, hoping to be updated with good news soon.
---
The whole ship was in complete darkness, not a single light or flashing sign to be seen. Helo had his torch in his hand, his mask on his face and his gun in his other hand. The men around him were all shining their torches around the room that they had entered and were looking for some clues to the whereabouts of their missing comrades.
Funny, Helo thought, this is meant to be a civilian ship…but there aren’t any. “Ok, the Admiral wants the team to split up into four groups of three to search a wider area.” He turned around. “You three take the port hatch, you three take the starboard, you lot over there and you two come with me, we’re going this way. I want everyone to remain in contact via the comm link. If you find the missing men I want you to make contact as soon as possible, as we don’t know what condition they are in.” There was a mumble of agreeing voices. “If you don’t find them I want everyone back here in ninety minutes, that’s an order. Now, go!”
The room emptied and Helo called the two men that were to go with him to his side. Helo walked up to the hatch that he had assigned himself to and walked up to it, he counted and pulled it open, the other two marines shooting inside to scout out the immediate area. It was empty. All three of them walked carefully down the long corridor, checking in every direction just to make sure that nobody was going to jump out on them.
“Sir, there’s at least three other corridors down here. Which one should we go down first?” the tallest marine said, shining his torch on Helo.
“The majority of these will lead to dead ends…I think that we should follow this down and see where it heads to. Keep your eyes and your ears open. They might call for help and we wouldn’t want to miss that. OK? Now, this way.” Helo headed off down the dark corridor.
---
The tension in the CIC was thick and everyone was on edge as they listened and waited for any sign of the missing souls. The communication link between the ship and the men on the Carina was fuzzy, but they were still audible over the tannoy that was blaring their voices around them. Tigh was stood next to Bill, almost like a gesture to let him know he was there. Although their relationship had been slightly strained over the past few months, when it came down to it they were old friends and Tigh would be there for him. Tigh wasn’t an optimist and from the sounds of Lee’s transmission, things weren’t looking good.
Laura observed Bill from a distance as she still hadn’t moved back over to the console. Billy had gotten her a chair, and she had taken it, not wanting to stand up for a long time, her stomach pain now slightly more bearable as the pain killers worked their magic. She still had the papers folded in her hand, not wanting them to stray into the hands of someone else. She wanted to analyse this and see what she was up against and what perhaps she was going to face.
“Can you see that? There’s red smoke coming from underneath that bulkhead…we need to get through there now!” Helo’s voice echoed around the CIC and a small murmur followed from around the various different people still sat in there.
Bill gripped the console hard and turned to Dualla. “Tell Helo to get the other marines back to help him.”
“Helo, this is Galactica actual, the Admiral requests that you call back the other marines to help you.”
“Yes, sir,”
Bill kept his gaze firmly on the monitors around him. His whole body was buzzing with tension and worry, forcing the adrenaline through his veins like a poison. The buzzing of the transmission was like a lifeline, keeping him in contact with the world outside, the condition of his son and Kara. If it stopped he thought that maybe he wouldn’t be able to control himself, he might have to go over there himself. As reckless as it was, he knew that he had a duty to uphold and leaving wouldn’t serve anything. He wasn’t as fit and young as he once had been and he knew that Helo would do everything he could to save the people on the Carina. He just hoped that he wasn’t too late.
The whole corridor was filled with a thick red smoke that was so dense that it was difficult to see your hand in front of your face. The Admiral had said something about there being smoke and he thought that maybe he was on the right track. “Ok, look sharp, this looks like the place.” Helo moved his torch around as much as he could, the darkness of the corridor didn’t help the fact that the smoke was just as covering. It would be impossible to navigate yourself through this without light.
It was suffocating the way that it swirled around you, and disorientated you. He wondered if they had gotten out or gotten somewhere safe. He looked around once more and then he felt something hit against his boot. Helo moved his hand to the object on the floor and picked it up, a standard military torch that many of the officers used. He scanned the floor some more in hopes of finding something else. He kneeled down so he could get a better look.
BANG.
Helo looked up, pulling his gun out and pointing it down the corridor. The sound of footsteps came from that direction and he moved back, telling the marines around him to get into the sides. The rest of the marines came racing towards them and with the minimal visibility, knocked into them, sending a few of them to the floor with a great thud.
Helo pushed the officer off of him and sat up. “What’s going on?”
“We got your order, sir, about joining you. Something isn’t right though, we heard shots and not everyone has been accounted for.” The marine stood up and leaned against the bulkhead, the red smoke circling around him.
“Ok, I want everyone into defence formation. I know it’s hard to see but we have to arm ourselves just in case.”
Helo moved to the back, marines all crowded around, quatting and leaning against bulkheads. “I want you two to get out of the smoke and see what you can see. This stuff can give us covering.”
The sound of bullets rang in the distance. Someone was coming.
---
“Ten souls out on your command, sir,” Geoffrey said, rolling a piece of paper up in his hand.
“It’s all going according to plan. The Galactica sent down some marines and we are going to dispose of them.”
“Of course, I knew that they were going to send marines. I know what will happen today and tomorrow. You should know that by now Geoffrey.” He stretched out his long fingers and adjusted himself in his chair. “It was a good thing that you know how to fly a raptor, otherwise you would still be stuck down on that ship.”
“I think that my withholding the fact that I was a raptor pilot washout was a good idea, otherwise I would have been drafted onto Galactica a long time ago, sir. It was also fortunate that they brought two raptors with them. It was also lucky that the transponder was easy to destroy.”
“Well, I’d say it wasn’t fortunate. I’d say it was meant to happen. Everything happens for a reason. It says so in ‘The Book,’ and you should know that.” He flicked open the pages in front of him and glanced down. “You say that you were a raptor washout? Well that could come in handy…”
“Sir?”
“Day 23 is going to be very eventful. Now, I want you to go and fill out the duties I have set you. We know what will happen on that ship, the marines will die, Apollo and Starbuck will die and that leaves us with a little more leverage,” he laughed menacingly and stared at Geoffrey. “I just adore how accurate this book is. If only day 28 were complete.”
---
Shots continued to fire around Helo as he sidestepped into a small alcove out of the line of fire. A handful of the marines that were with him were down or injured and with the smoke it was just impossible to see what was going on. He just knew that nobody was responding to him.
A uniformed body moved past him quickly so he stuck out his arm and pulled the man into the alcove with him. “What’s going on?”
The man wriggled out of his grasp and stood himself up properly. “I don’t know, sir, there are at least half a dozen men out there. They’re in red suits and they have some serious arms on them.”
“Ok,” Karl looked down at his oxygen gage and shook his head, this was getting ridiculous.“Right, we need to hurry, we don’t know how much longer Starbuck and Apollo have left. So, this is what I want you to do…”
---
“Admiral Adama, sir,” Gaeta said, walking quickly over to the dradis console. “I think you need to look at this.” His hands were filled with a few blue pieces of paper. Drawings and notes were written around numbers and symbols.
Bill looked down from the monitors to Gaeta’s worried face. He let go of the console and followed him. “What is it?” Bill kept one eye on the monitors around him as he walked speedily to the corner of the CIC.
“Well, sir, I didn’t know what to think of it first, but one of our raptors left the Carina only a few minutes before Helo arrived. The transponder stopped working almost as soon as it set out into space. I didn’t know if you had noticed, sir.” He lifted up his papers and pointed at a line of code, numbers and shorthanded notes.
Bill stared at the paper, totally struck by the fact that he has missed such a thing. “No I didn’t. Well spotted.”
“It was the raptor that Lee piloted to the Carina, sir. I don‘t think it was our men that flew it away. The only qualified pilots that were on that mission were Starbuck and Apollo. It just doesn‘t make sense.”
“Do we know of its intended location at all? Could you get a reading on where it was going?”
“No, Sir. It could be anywhere in the fleet right about now.”
“Was anything sent out from the raptor? Scrambled voice messages?”
Gaeta looked down at his papers and then peered at his monitor, pressing a few keys before a green message displayed on the screen. “There was, but I can’t get a hold of the exact location. I don’t know if I could decode it. I mean, all voice calls are recorded, like the flight footage for training purposes, as you know. Scrambled messages are stored as basic outlines, like an imprint. I could try and decode it, but it will be very difficult and if not highly improbable.”
Bill nodded his head, understanding how difficult it was to decode scrambled messages. Very few people had gotten a grasp on it. “Yes I understand. Get me the names of all of the qualified Raptor pilots, washouts, trainees or anything like that. I won’t have anyone stealing military property, especially if it has anything to do with what’s going on. When you‘ve done that then I‘d like you to start on the message.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bill shook his head and walked back to the console, his gaze briefly catching Laura’s who was keeping her distance, taking it in the situation. It was unlike her not to be at the console itself in times of crisis, trying to do her thing as President and back him up.
“Galactica this is Helo, we’re under some serious fire at the moment. There’s at least half a dozen heavily armed men here taking shots at the marines. Still no sign of Apollo and Starbuck…”
--
Helo fiddled with his headpiece as all he could hear was crackling. The men around him were waiting for his signal as they lined up against the bulkheads and small alcoves around him. He shined his torch through the red smoke and towards the gun fire. “Ok, you know what you have to do. They have us backed up like a herd of cattle and we are not going to let them cause anymore damage, do you hear me? All of you need to be careful. You four are going to head down that corridor there and see where it leads. Hopefully it backs up into another corridor so you can give them the element of surprise. You three are to stay with me ok. Now, go.”
An array of footsteps began and Helo moved forward, turning his torch off and peering into the smoke carefully, hoping to see something through its thickness. The small edge of the alcove came towards him and he leaned against it, the noises of the marines around him were close, so he knew they were doing as planned. The bullets were still firing and they all had to press themselves as flat against the metal as they could. When they were all close enough for him to see he signalled with his hands to drop to their stomachs and began moving quickly and quietly towards where the smoke was less dense so they could get sight of their attackers.
A tall marine moved up beside Helo and the four of them dragged themselves as quietly as they could, trying to be as careful as they did not to rip their suits on the floor. When Helo began to see the smoke thin out he raised his hand and peered carefully through the swirling redness. Ten metres away there were outlines of ten heavily armed men in red suits shooting aimlessly into the smoke, their faces set in a grim smile as they carried on shooting into the darkness. It was still dark, but all of their attackers had head torches which shone brightly through the darkness. Helo brought his gun up and aimed. The collection of clicks and movement surrounded him, showing that the marines were ready.
They began shooting.
They took the men by surprise and they shot down at least five of the men before they realised where they were in the smoke. A collection of guns began shooting at them and Helo stood up quickly, dragging the man next to him back into the smoke for cover.
Only one more marine came back with him.
They could hear shouting and mumbling coming from through the smoke and Helo held onto his gun with such an intense grip that he could feel his fingers creak under the pressure. There was no way that he was going to die here. He was going to find Apollo and Starbuck and get them back to Galactica. Failing wasn’t an option, and neither was death.
“Sir, we need to get into a decent form of cover before they head down here.”
“The others should be back soon if they haven’t found a successful exit. We need to hold our position and take out as many of those bastards as we can.”
“What do you suggest we do?”
“We head back out there, against the bulkheads as they still think we’re on the floor. You can tell by the sound of the bullets. Then, we do it again, and take out as many of them as we can until the others get back. Ok?” Helo jammed another round of ammo into his gun and wiped at his mask so he could see a bit better. The smoke was leaving some sort of watery residue on it, preventing him from seeing as well as he could. “Ok, now, lets go.”
All three of them moved slowly against the metal, side-stepping their way along the corridor until they came to the edge of the smoke again. Helo lifted his gun up towards his face and aimed.
As he began shooting a big fist came out of nowhere knocking him back four paces and making him land heavily on the floor. When he looked around he could see the other two marines lying flat out on the floor around him. He leaned forward to get up but someone jumped heavily on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Helo, with as much strength as he could muster, thrust his hand into the guys neck and began pushing him backwards, trying to get him off of his chest. The man, who was the size of a small tank, jammed his fist into his face making his vision blur slightly as he lashed out. A light shone across his body and he watched as the hand of the man pulled out a shiny metal knife and ran it menacingly along his stomach, threatening to either stab him or make small holes in his suit. Either way, he wasn’t going to let him try. He swung with as much effort as he could at the man’s head, knocking him back slightly, giving him a bit of leverage to be able to shove the man off of him.
As he stood, he looked around for his gun so he could take the guy out, the man came out of nowhere punching him hard in the head, the thin white suit and small material helmet not giving him much protection. The punch sent him further back into the smoke and further away from his men. Another punch hit him hard in the stomach and Helo had to drop to his knees, his stomach muscles spasmed from the impact.
Helo lay on the floor panting for breath, his stomach and lungs aching from the impact and the increased need to take in air. He put his arm up against the bulkhead and grabbed hold of whatever it was that was sticking out so he could get himself to his feet. He took a long deep breath of oxygen to steady himself before moving back towards his gun. He didn’t see his attacker before he punched him hard in the side of the head, knocking him back to the floor and nearly knocking him unconscious. All Helo could see was the swirling of the smoke around him, stars and the glinting of the knife was being held above him. He watched as the steel swung over him and then move quickly towards his stomach. He closed his eyes for the impact as he felt his hands get shoved down by the knees of the great tank above him.
Bang.
The attacker landed flat on him, the knife falling to the side of Helo, who was now panting with relief. He pushed the man off of him and looked behind him to see a gun and a hand. Whoever it was had just saved his life.
Helo got up slowly, holding his stomach and steadying himself as his vision swam in front of him. He moved slowly towards the attacker who had strangely dropped the gun to the floor.
“Why do I always have to help save your ass? You owe me, Helo. I want a nice bottle of ambrosia for that.”
Helo shot forward and took hold of Starbuck’s arm who was swaying very unsteadily on her feet with the limp body of Lee at her side. She coughed and moaned before falling forward, Helo catching her and holding her up. “Frak. Starbuck stay with me, ok? Is there anyone else with you?”
“No,“ she coughed. “It’s just us.” Kara mumbled something before falling unconscious and going completely limp in Helo’s arms. He could hear the distant sound of gunfire and decided that he should see what’s going on before he risked taking her and Apollo out into the unaffected air. It wouldn’t be any good if they got shot.
After placing her back on the floor he picked up her gun and ran down the corridor, keeping to the side. As he came out into the open all he could see was a mass of crumpled up men in red uniforms with the remainder of his men standing over them, their guns still smoking. It looked as if the men that went off down the other corridor had found their way back and were responsible for the defeat of the enemy,
“Sir, we got them all.”
Helo nodded his head and let out a huge sigh. “Ok, I want you two to go and get the wounded marines. I want you two to come help me get Starbuck and Apollo.”
“You found them, sir?”
“No, Starbuck found us. Now come on, we don’t know how serious their injuries are.”
When Helo arrived back to where Starbuck was still unconscious and he, along with the other marine picked up Starbuck and Apollo and dragged them out towards the hangar bay where the raptors were. There were a lot of injured marines in total, a lot with flesh wounds and a small number dead.
Helo lay Starbuck down on the floor and lifted the torch that he had acquired towards him and played with his radio. “Galactica, this is Helo, we’ve got injured men down here that need medical attention. And, Sir, we found them.”
---
Bill’s body leaned heavily against the dradis console and he rested himself there, breathing in deep as he heard the positive mumbling of voices around him. A deep resonating feeling of pure relief was flowing through his body and he took off his glasses and looked up. They were alive. There had been so many different occasions when he thought that he would have reason to grieve, a process that he didn’t do well. After Zach it had all been different. Losing a child was probably the worst thing he had ever been through. It cut him deep and the wounds would never heal, and if he knew that his other son was dead…well he wouldn’t know what to do.
Small delicate fingers wrapped lightly around his arm, in a discrete fashion, squeezing lightly before they moved up to his shoulder. “Thank the Gods,” Laura whispered, giving him another gentle squeeze.
“I want two raptors down there now to help bring the wounded back.” His body turned to Tigh who was glancing at the monitors above, mumbling something about, ‘frakking idiots.’ “I want you to keep an eye on the fleet. If anything is out of place then let me know.”
Laura stepped back, removing her hand from his shoulder. “I think something is going to have to be done about the levels of security in the fleet, Admiral. This is just getting absurd. We have to minimise the risk and minimise the damage.”
Bill turned to her, her voice a whisper above his rapidly beating heart. He still didn’t know the condition of his son and whether he was going to make it. His eyes washed over her face and the sincere look of concern on her face for the fleet, Kara and Lee. “Yes, we are.” He turned again to Tigh who was waiting his orders. “I want this fleet on high security. No travelling between ships is allowed unless permitted by me or the President. If we minimise the movement we minimise the risk.”
“I think that the people are going to be very itchy over this-”
“We’ll have to hold a press conference then. I don’t need any speculation across the fleet over what’s going on. We’ll have to sort that out later. I have to go down to the sickbay now.”
Laura nodded her head with agreement and stood next to Billy who was still standing with his mouth open, obviously still in shock. “Did you hear that, Billy? You need to arrange a press conference.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Do you know when you want to hold it? I mean, you have a meeting tomorrow afternoon, remember?” He pulled out his little notebook and flicked through the pages, scanning over masses of notes and writing. “Yep, apart from that meeting everything else is free. I can schedule it for tomorrow morning?”
“That should be fine, Billy.” Laura nodded and continued watching Bill who had just put the phone down. He was obviously waiting for the raptors to begin their journey back to the Galactica.
“Lieutenant Gaeta, any luck?”
Gaeta looked up from his work and looked over to the Admiral who was looking at him with anticipation. He stood up, taking his papers with him and walked over to the console. “Well, I have the list of people. What would you like me to do with them, sir?”
Bill thought for a moment and pulled the sheet of paper from his hand. “Are there many civilians on the list?”
“Only a handful, sir. All of the men and women with qualifications like that have been drafted onboard the Galactica.”
“Well, I want a group of people to go out and question these people. I want to know what they were doing during this time. As for the people onboard the Galactica, they need to be checked too. If anyone was missing from their duties I want them brought to me.” Bill handed the paper back to Gaeta. “Any luck on the message?”
Gaeta shook his head and placed the papers back into order. “No, sir. I’m currently running the computer over the sequence looking for certain patterns and hexadecimal coding. Although I think that they aren’t coded with normal patterns and such, I’m doing my best to look for anomalies and chains of coding that look familiar.” Gaeta straightened himself up. “I’m doing my best, sir.”
Bill nodded his head. “I know. That will be all, Lieutenant.” Bill glanced nervously at the monitors above him, waiting for the raptor signal to appear on the dradis so he could make his way down to sickbay.
The little red dot appeared on the screen and Bill’s stomach knotted. He took a deep breath and nodded to Tigh who returned the gesture and walked towards the console, signalling that he was ready to take over whilst Bill went to see the situation of his son and Kara.
Laura, who was now waiting by the exit of the CIC stood and watched Bill walk speedily towards her, his face set in a determined expression. “I’d like to come with you, if that’s ok?”
Bill, who was too busy thinking about the wellbeing of his son just nodded and continued his walk towards the sickbay. Laura’s guard followed her as she walked behind Bill. Billy was trotting at her side, as both of them tried to keep up with Bill who was streaking ahead, obviously concerned and very worried. “I pray to the Gods that they’re alright,” Laura said as she looked nervously at Bill.
As they got closer to the their destination, Laura felt a sharp pain shoot through her stomach, making her slow slightly as she battled with the pain. All she had to do was keep it together for just a little longer and then she would be able to lie down and get Cottle to check her over. She didn’t have to wait too long. Another shooting pain, this time with such force that she had to stop to get her breath as it ricocheted inside of her, making her feel slightly winded at its impact. Like a sledgehammer to the gut, Laura doubled over as she felt her lower abdomen come alive with a burning sensation and severe discomfort.
Billy, who had noticed her lag behind turned to see her leaning against the cold metal bulkhead, her body bent over and a small moan of pain escaped her lips. He ran forward to her and put his arm across her shoulders. “Are you ok, Madam President?”
Laura stood up and exhaled sharply, determined to make it to the sickbay on her own two feet. She waved her hand in front of Billy and carried on walking. As she straightened herself she felt the pain ease slightly and carried on walking, hoping that it was just a brief spell.
Bill, who was now a good forty paces ahead turned when he heard a low moan of pain from behind him. Curious to where it was coming from he peered around the corner of the corridor and saw Laura on her knees, her arms wrapped around herself and a horrible look of agony etched across her face. Billy was knelt down by her side, his hand across her back. When he looked up he could see the Admiral and called him over. Bill turned to the nearest officer and grabbed him by the collar. “I want you to get the Doctor. NOW!”
Laura was now seated on the floor, unable to keep herself standing as the pain ripped through her insides, making her head thump and her whole body quiver. She felt a strong pair of hands rest on her shoulders and she looked up weakly, the outline of an older face and a pair of glasses looking down at her. Sounds began merging together and her vision swam, blurring and merging into one big mass of colours. Unable to focus on her surroundings she concentrated on getting rid of the pain, her hand moving aimlessly to her side, hoping to find her pocket and the pills on the inside.
“Sir, Doc Cottle is seeing to Captain Adama and Lieutenant Thrace.”
Bill looked down at her unfocused eyes and pale face and then to the officer who was giving him the information that his son was onboard. Did he get the Doctor, taking him away from his son? Trying to keep level-headed, he bent forward further. “Can you stand?”
Laura could make out the faint outline of a rough voice that sounded so very familiar. She tried focusing on it and bringing herself back into some sort of coherent form. Another pain ripped through her stomach and she felt her head swim with dizziness.
Bill didn’t get a reply and he grabbed hold of her arms, and watched as she went limp in his arms. “Frak,” he whispered under his breath. Not wanting to waste any of his time, he lifted her up off of the ground and instead of getting the Doctor to her, he was going to take her to the Doctor.
--
When Bill arrived at the sickbay he could see Cottle bent over Kara who, as far as he could tell, looked awful. Her face was pale and her lips as red as the most crimson coloured blood. Cottle had her mouth open and a small wooden stick in her mouth. The cotton sheets that were around her highlighted how pale she had become and how ill she looked. The stick, which he had used to swab on the inside of her mouth came out covered in a thick red substance and Bill saw Cottle swear and put out his cigarette.
The noise of the people entering the sickbay caused Cottle to look up and upon seeing the president lying unconscious in Bill’s arms he rolled his eyes and pointed to a bed in the corner, taking out another cigarette.
“What a frakking day this turned out to be.” He moved the covers out of the way and waited for Bill to lay her down.
Bill stepped back and gazed over the room, looking over the occupants of the beds and let out a huge sigh. Things were never simple in the fleet, and it seemed that they had just reached a new and previously untopped level.
--
The lighting in the small room was minimal, but the small red lights that lined the metal bulkhead surface penetrated the darkness as best they could. He was seething with anger at the news that the marines had gotten off of the ship, along with Apollo and Starbuck who were, as far as he was aware, still in the realm of the living. Looking down at the book with a thin form of hatred, he pulled open the pages and began analysing the words for this day and the day after, determined to find some flaw in its text so he could justify the current situation. Everything so far, to the smallest detail had gone according to plan and now he was sat, with his blood boiling at a very unhealthy level.
His finger skimmed over one of the final paragraphs on the page, reading the lines and piecing as much information together as he could. There had to be something that would lead him to the reason why the plan, which had been carefully outlined in the pages, hadn’t been successful. Nothing shone up at him.
“Sir?” came the voice of Geoffrey who was standing in the doorway, a small tray in his hand.
“You say you followed everything to the letter? Everything I outlined for you? His voice was bitter and he lifted his gaze to Geoffrey’s.
“I did, sir.”
“You made sure that the interference would make communication with the ship as bad as possible?”
“Yes, sir. I installed the device myself. Made sure it functioned properly and everything.”
“You made sure that the ventilation was turned off?”
Geoffrey gulped and nervously twitched, making the metal tray bang against the doorway. “Ventilation?”
The grip that he had on his chair intensified and he shot up, lifting his gun to face the man standing in the doorway. “Yes, the ventilation. The gas, when combined with water vapour and a warm surrounding turns into a thick red mucus-like liquid, suffocating the people who breathe it in. Also, the substance contains a nice little chemical that makes it as painful as possible. BUT,” he shouted, moving forward, his gun raised higher. “How is it going to be effective if perhaps the stupid frakking moron I trusted to do this work didn’t do his job? Ventilation, supplies oxygen you frakking idiot. If, by chance they were able to fall near a duct or fan they wouldn’t have the full effect of the smoke.”
Geoffrey gulped and stepped back as the gun got closer and closer to him. “I’m sorry. You didn’t mention anything about ventilation…really, you didn’t.” The gun was now pressed against his forehead and he closed his eyes.
The book was still in his hand and he lifted it up to his face, angling the pages so they faced the light so he could read them. The red light shone on the pages and he could make out an outline of writing which hadn’t been there before. The Red light was obviously like U/V light and highlighted the special ink. He pushed Geoffrey back and moved the page closer so he could read it.
“A test. Although sometimes we do not succeed, it doesn’t mean that we will fail. The plan will not succeed in the fashion in which you wish. These people that you try and move out of the way will not die. A lesson to you- know your opponent before you try and get rid of them. Apollo and Starbuck are keys to the future. The Cylons will not get rid of them, so nor will you.”
He placed the gun into his belt and mumbled angrily. “This may be your lucky day. But, hear me now. If this plan doesn’t come together how I want it, you will pay. I will make sure that your last hours are the most painful you have ever experienced.” He pulled his arm back and sent it against the front of Geoffrey’s face, sending the huge man flying back at least three feet. Success was his only option.