Thy Kingdom Come- Chapter 13-14
Felix’s day had started out well. The make-up/we finally said “I love you” sex that morning had been nothing short of fantastic, and things were quiet in the CIC as they had been for the past two weeks. Then that evening came the rather frightening announcement that Cally Tyrol was dead. It had been ruled a suicide, but something about it made Felix uneasy. Particularly the fact that her husband had recently discovered he was a cylon. Chief Tyrol had already beaten Cally once in a fit of delusional rage; there wasn’t any reason he wasn’t liable to do it again. If the cylon part of the Chief had gotten the better of him, Felix was certain that murdering his wife wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities. If that had been what happened, the idea of keeping that man in charge of the deck crew was more than unsettling.
Felix went to go find Colonel Tigh after learning about what happened. He found him in his quarters. “Colonel.”
“The Chief didn’t do it,” said Colonel Tigh.
Felix was surprised by the blunt answer, though not entirely surprised that Tigh would stand by the Chief. “What makes you say that?” Felix asked.
“He was unconscious at the time the airlock was activated,” said Tigh. “The Admiral found him bleeding from the head and barely able to move in his quarters. I know what you’re thinking Lieutenant, and he’s not capable of it.”
‘You don’t know what you’re capable of anymore,’ Felix thought to himself. But if the Chief had sustained a head injury before Cally had died, Felix knew he wouldn’t have been able get down to the airlock, superhuman abilities or not.
Felix was about to leave when he smelled the distinct odor of alcohol coming from the Colonel’s direction. He’d been hitting the bottle, heavily, which didn’t make much sense to Felix. Tigh barely even knew Cally, and it certainly hadn’t been the first suicide in the fleet.
Felix knew better than to question a superior officer, but he decided to ask Tigh about it anyway. “Have you been drinking, Colonel?”
“She’s dead because I frakked up!” shouted Tigh, shoving an empty glass off the table.
Felix recoiled as the glass shattered on the floor. Surely this didn’t have to do with airlock security, since Cally had full access anyway. Had Tigh told her? “Permission to ask for clarification, Sir,” said Felix.
“I left a note,” slurred Tigh. “I left a note at his quarters to meet us at the weapons locker. Cally must’ve found it and figured it out. It was sloppy. Not something an XO would do.”
It was a stretch to think that Cally had committed suicide because of a note Colonel Tigh left, but not entirely implausible. Felix had already figured it out, and Tigh, Chief, and Tory weren’t exactly as secretive as they liked to think they were. It would certainly explain the Chief’s head wound. If Cally had intended to kill Galen first, instead of just injure him, Felix could definitely picture her having found out her husband was a cylon. Felix guessed the note didn’t say who it had been from, otherwise the Admiral would have an even bigger mess on his hands.
Felix didn’t really know Cally that well- they’d only ever started talking on New Caprica, and that quickly ended after he was revealed to be a cylon- but her death had still shaken him up, as it seemed to with everyone. It worried him even moreso now that it was not merely the result of something like a loss of hope in finding Earth or post-partum depression, but perhaps might be an indication of what would happen if the fleet knew about the final five. Felix suspected his decision not to tell the Admiral about what he knew had been the right one.
Even if the Chief hadn’t been unconscious at the time, it became quickly apparent that Galen had nothing to do with Cally’s death, at least directly. He was far too shaken up by it for him to have killed her. For the first few days, he was merely silent every time Felix saw him in the mess hall. Then one day he appeared with a shaved head, getting irate about the slightest thing, and randomly picking fights with people for no reason at all. All of the gossip on the ship became about the Chief and how he’d completely lost it. Most people said they didn’t even recognize him and many said they were scared to even approach him. Felix would have tried to help, but he quite frankly was one of those people who was downright terrified of the Chief as he’d been behaving.
Felix defaulted to Colonel Tigh on the matter. In addition to Tigh being someone Felix knew was capable of handling just about anyone in any state of mind, Felix figured it might be good for the Colonel to have a project, something to keep him from dwelling too much on his newfound cylonhood. His ridiculous meetings surely hadn’t been helping any.
“Is anything being done about Chief Tyrol, Sir?” Felix asked the Colonel.
“The Admiral’s demoted him. He’s Specialist Tyrol now,” said Tigh, taking a swig from a bottle of something.
“No offense Sir, but I don’t think it’s going to help,” replied Felix. “You’re the only one who knows what’s all going on, and I think he’ll listen to you.”
“Foster knows,” said Tigh.
Just who anyone needed providing them therapy- a politician. “Colonel, he’s going to hurt someone if somebody doesn’t do something.”
“I’ll talk to him,” grumbled Tigh. “Now get out of here Lieutenant.”
Tigh hadn’t seemed too enthused. Felix hoped for the both of them that this worked. The last thing the fleet needed were a couple of drunk, angry cylons.
Despite the fact that the Demetrius mission was small, the absence of a few notable people made it easier for Felix to go to Joe’s Bar during prime hours. Somehow people were much calmer without Starbuck around, not that that was at all surprising. The absence of a particular someone also made it possible for Dee to join him.
“Have you heard from Lee since his big move to Colonial One?” asked Felix.
“Nope,” replied Dee, sipping her makeshift Cosmopolitan. “You know, if he’s happy, then good for him. He deserves to be. I’m just glad I don’t have to fight with him anymore.”
Felix had noticed that Dee seemed happier these days without Lee around. She certainly wouldn’t have come to Joe’s very often before, due to the strong possibility of finding her husband here mopey and drunk. She seemed…freer.
“So did you hear the rumor going around about-“ Felix started, before a pyramid ball came bouncing onto their table, nearly knocking over Felix’s glass of ambrosia. Felix was tempted to be pissed, but then Dee started laughing uncontrollably, Cosmo nearly coming out her nose. It was difficult to be pissed after that.
“Hey Gaeta,” shouted Brooks, a deck hand that Felix knew vaguely from New Caprica, “mind tossing that back?”
Felix smiled. It was surprising how people seemed to be warming up to him. Nice, in fact.
Felix tossed the ball back Brooks’ way. Brooks gave a thankful wave, then went back to his game, and Felix back to his drink.
Of course, not everyone was quite so nice, as the table of Pegasus officers nearby was reminding him. They’d been scowling at him since he and Dee had sat down. It didn’t worry him anymore like it used to, but it was beginning to get annoying. Felix could certainly see how they were getting on Louis’ nerves. Still, despite his relative lack of concern, there was that lingering feeling in Felix’s mind that they might be out to get him.
“Oh forget them, Felix,” said Dee, apparently reading his mind again. Felix had never been able to determine how she was always able to do that. “Did you hear about where Dr. Baltar is now?”
“No,” replied Felix. “And why do you care? I thought you hated his guts.”
“I do,” stated Dee. “But it’s just so ridiculous, I had to pass it along. Word has it, there’s this cult that lives in an out-of-service storage bay on D deck. Supposedly they worship Baltar because of his book, or something like that. Is that not the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard?”
“Tell me you’re kidding,” said Felix in disbelief. Forgiveness for New Caprica was one thing, but worship?
“I wish I was,” replied Dee. “I heard from Sergeant Erickson that some of the crew are even going down to hear him give sermons. I fear for the sanity of this fleet, I really do.”
Felix certainly didn’t blame her. “I propose a toast,” he said, raising his glass. “To the fleet, may we not all lose our minds before finding Earth.”
Dee raised her glass and clinked it against Felix’s. “To the fleet.”
Chapter 14
Colonel Tigh had indicated that Felix should meet him in his quarters after his shift in the CIC that day. While it was obvious what the Colonel wanted to talk to Felix about, he hoped that the summons didn’t signal any drastic emergencies. Felix also hoped Tigh had been able to calm down Tyrol. He hadn’t heard of any incidents with the now ex-Chief, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been any.
“You wished to see me, Sir?” greeted Felix as he entered Tigh’s quarters.
“Sit down Lieutenant,” said Tigh. That indicated this would be an informal conversation. Tigh liked to address people standing up. It was a widely used practice among the military, to keep anyone from getting too comfortable and complacent with their superior officers. Adama had never been fond of it, but Tigh always had been.
Felix pulled out the chair in front of Tigh’s desk and took a seat. Colonel Tigh didn’t sit down across from him. Instead, he was pacing the room.
“How do you do it, Gaeta?” Tigh asked. He certainly looked worse for wear, but also completely sober. “How the frak do you know you’re not just going to…snap and kill everyone on this ship?”
If that wasn’t directly to the point. Felix guessed this had been something the Colonel was thinking about for a while. “Well um,” said Felix, pondering exactly where to start with that answer. “I know who I am. I know what I believe in. I think about that more than I think about the cylon side of me. I like to think that now that I know what I am, I’m in control of my own mind. I guess something could happen, I don’t know one hundred percent, but I don’t think it will. I have people that will keep me in check if I ever need it.”
Tigh kept pacing, and it was obvious he was thinking about something. He went back and forth across the room a couple times before saying anything. “Should I tell Bill?” he asked.
Felix noted that he’d said “Bill” as opposed to “the Admiral” or “the Old Man”. It struck Felix once again that that was why Colonel Tigh was having such a difficult time dealing with the fact that he was a cylon: his only close friend happened to be the guy in charge. Tigh had never been close to Felix, but Felix was the nearest understanding party he had.
“I’m not sure,” said Felix, deliberating Tigh’s conundrum. “He won’t be happy that his XO is a cylon, but I don’t know what he’ll think as a friend. I’d say it’s your call.” It didn’t seem to appease Tigh, as he still kept pacing, his brow furrowed in an expression of malcontent. Then Felix thought to add “If you need someone to keep you in check, I’ll do it. Privately, of course.” He meant it.
Tigh didn’t look at him, but he stopped pacing for a moment. “I never liked you much Gaeta.”
“I got that impression, Sir,” replied Felix.
“Even before New Caprica. You were a brown noser.”
Felix wasn’t sure whether to be offended or to agree with the statement. Looking at his early days in the military, he had been a bit of a suck-up.
“Frankly,” Tigh continued, “I like you better as a cylon. You’ve got guts and you know when to use them.”
Felix wasn’t entirely sure, but it sounded like Tigh was apologizing to him. It had been months since Tigh had beaten him to a pulp- since Felix had let him- but it was better late than never. It was more than he’d gotten from most people, and certainly more from the other person who’d made him her personal punching bag.
“Thank you, Sir,” Felix replied.
“But I don’t want you coming to me unless I ask for you, got that?” barked Tigh, now facing Felix directly. “If you think you need to speak to me, leave a note or use a signal or something. I don’t want anyone sniffing their nose where they shouldn’t and if it looks like we’re all buddy-buddy, someone’s gonna start poking around. And you don’t let anyone in on our little secret, got it?”
“Yes, Sir,” said Felix.
“Dismissed.”
As Felix left Tigh’s quarters, he couldn’t help but smile. Whether he realized it or not, Tigh was going to be fine. It might take a while, but Felix imagined everything would be just fine.
Louis had brought a radio into their quarters. Felix wasn’t quite sure why, given that there was only about an hour or two a day when the music the fleet’s one station played was worth listening to, and they were often otherwise occupied during those time slots anyway. But if Louis wanted to indulge in a small luxury, Felix would let him.
“You need to hear this,” said Louis, setting the radio down and turning it on immediately. Felix watched him change the dial to a station Felix knew wasn’t the music channel.
“…unfortunately the gods cannot be blamed for not coming to your aid. It’s not because they weren’t listening. It’s because they don’t exist. The gods we’ve been praying to…”
“Is that Baltar?” Felix asked.
“You’re damn right it is,” said Louis, looking a little more enthused than Felix would like about the matter. “He’s apparently a priest now. Can you believe it?”
“With Baltar, I think I’d believe just about anything,” said Felix. “It’s just the fact that people actually listen to this that I can’t believe. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of converting?”
“Oh frak no,” dismissed Louis. “I mean, I listened to one of his sermons the other day, and I think if the gods didn’t exist, then you guys finding Kobol, and Pegasus finding Galactica, and the fleet finding the Eye of Jupiter would never have happened. I was just…thinking.”
“Thinking?” Felix asked, wondering just where Louis was going with his line of thought.
“Wellllll,” said Louis, smirking. He’d been up to something, clearly. “Since Baltar is preaching about a one true god sort of like what you’ve told me about the cylon god, then he must be okay with cylons. And if he’s okay with cylons, then it follows that his flock is okay with cylons. Since we’re about to lose our private quarters, I thought maybe, you know.”
“You want to live with Baltar’s cult?” Felix knew Louis had been disappointed at best about the upcoming return of the Demetrius, but that Louis had devised something that insane worried him a little. That his reasoning actually made sense scared Felix the most.
“I bet they know someplace we could stay,” Louis suggested.
“Louis?” said Felix. “You are out of your frakking mind.”
Louis shrugged. “It was worth a shot. I’m just not looking forward to going back to officer’s racks. Not that they’re bad or anything, they’re just…small. And I’m worried about you having to sneak around in order for us to continue sleeping together. I know you’ve still got issues with Kelly, and some of the Pegasus guys still-”
“Louis,” Felix interrupted him. “I think they’ve been on this ship long enough to know better than to do anything but grumble. Didn’t you just yell at me for being the one who worries too much?”
Louis sighed. “It was a stupid idea, wasn’t it?”
Felix laughed, then kissed him on the cheek. “Yes it was. But I love you anyway. We’ll work something out.”
“Could we at least use the bed one last time before we have to wash the sheets?” Louis asked him.
It was the best suggestion he’d heard all day.
Tigh looked uneasy. Not quite uneasy enough that it made Felix uneasy as well, but not something he was sure he wanted to pass off as a hangover either.
Felix looked around the CIC. No one else seemed to notice Tigh, which really wasn’t much of an indication of anything. Most of the crew was simply used to the Colonel having moods. Complacency- it wasn’t a good way for an army to operate, especially during a war, but it was a natural habit nonetheless.
Felix looked back at the Colonel again. It was probably nothing, he mused. Nothing more than the Colonel simply having a bad day.
Something started beeping. Something that sounded like an oven timer, or an alarm clock, or-
“Action stations!” shouted the Admiral, before Felix could even comprehend what was going on. “Set condition one throughout the fleet!”
Felix looked up at the console screen. There it was- big, red, and flashing right in front of his face- a cylon basestar. And it was right in the middle of the fleet.
Tigh began barking orders, and the CIC sprung into action, albeit slower than they should have. Complacency- apparently Felix had fallen victim to it too. So much for their two month vacation. Felix crossed his fingers and hoped this baseship hadn’t just wiped out the Demetrius on its way here.
“Baseship, bearing three three three karem four nine eight and fifteen MSU,” Felix reported, reading the DRADIS.
“Frakking thing is sitting right on top of us,” Tigh barked. He’d certainly be a lot more than uneasy now.
“Mr. Hoshi!” called the Admiral. “Order the fleet to make an emergency jump!”
“Aye, Sir,” Louis replied. Felix didn’t know how he could possibly be so calm. “All colonial vessels, jump immediately to emergency rendevous coordinates.” A pause. “Sir, President’s shuttle is en route.”
“Tell them to land on landing bay one, checkers green,” ordered the Admiral.
Landing a civilian shuttle in the middle of a battle, Adama had to be crazy to attempt it. Of course, they couldn’t just leave them there when the jump drives on those shuttles were either nonexistent or iffy at best.
“What the frak?” Felix heard the Colonel mumble. That was about Felix’s sentiment too. Talk about bad timing to have enemy contact.
Felix watched on DRADIS as the fleet began jumping away and vipers headed towards the baseship. “Baseship targeted, weapons free,” Dee reported.
“Something isn’t right,” Tigh mumbled. Whatever he was seeing, Felix wasn’t. Sure the baseship wasn’t shooting, but just one ship wouldn’t anyway.
“Gunnery reporting firing solution correct,” reported Louis, now looking a little frazzled. Apparently it had taken a little while to hit him. “Main battery is standing by to fire on your command.”
“On my command. Three, two, one-”
“Weapons hold!”
‘Frak, I should’ve called him out when I noticed something earlier,’ Felix thought, watching Colonel Tigh make a call based on gods knew what.
A blink on the DRADIS screen. Not another baseship. “DRADIS contact,” Felix reported.
“Galactica, Demetrius, do not fire.” Helo. “Baseship is disarmed and under Colonial command. Officers aboard.”
That little sewage ship had captured a basestar? Not possible. Felix picked up the comm. “Demetrius, Galactica. Authenticate.”
“Galactica, Demetrius, I authenticate. Bravo tango eight. Do not fire. Starbuck and Athena have control of the baseship.”
Not. Frakking. Possible. Felix looked at Colonel Tigh. Had he known? Had he been programmed to know? Had Felix frakked up in trusting the Colonel?
“I’ve got an officer down on this ship,” came Helo’s voice through the comm. “Repeat, officer down. Captain Kelly has been shot.”
“Dee,” ordered Felix, responding without a blink. “Get Cottle on the line, tell him to have a stretcher ready. We’ve got an officer down, gunshot wound. Lieutenant Hoshi, get a medical raptor launched and tell them to make fast for the Demetrius.” Felix picked up the comm again. “Helo, we’ve got transport headed your way and medical support ready on Galactica.”
“Mr. Hoshi,” ordered Adama. “Launch raptors, have them board the baseship. Scramble marines, I want as many over there as possible. I want to know what the frak is going on.” Felix did too. He kept his fingers crossed that they weren’t about to lose the bulk of their marine corps.
“Aye, Sir,” replied Louis.
“Saul,” said Adama. “I want you to go check it out for yourself. Go over there and get a firsthand account. Report back to me.”
“Yes, Sir,” the Colonel said with a salute, then turned on a heel to make his way to the hangar deck.
Felix’s eyes went wide. ‘No!’ he wanted to scream. ‘Anyone but Colonel Tigh! It’s a frakking trap!’ But if he snapped in the CIC now, Felix guaranteed he would be the one sent to the brig and not Tigh. He’d frakked up, big time, and now the fleet was about to pay for his mistake. He should’ve known better. He should’ve known not to trust a cylon.
Felix watched the DRADIS as the raptors flew to the baseship. Then he waited. And waited.
Then, after what seemed like a lifetime, but what the clock told him was a mere five minutes after docking, the transmission came over the comm. “Galactica, Colonel Tigh. Baseship is in Colonial command as reported, the skinjobs are requesting a meeting, over.”
Adama picked up the comm line. “Bring our people home. And bring whoever is asking back here,” he said. “I want to hear what they have to say.”
Colonel Tigh was still with them, and the baseship hadn’t turned on their guns yet. Maybe it wasn’t a trap after all. Felix still wasn’t so sure. He’d hear the report later, about just how a baseship full of cylons had been conquered by a sewage ship. In the meantime, Felix wasn’t about to trust any of the final five.
Chapter 15