Thy Kingdom Come- Chapter 9-10
Never looked happy before. Felix’s memories of life on the basestar were getting dimmer and dimmer, but he thought he might have remembered something like that. Then again, perhaps he’d forgotten on purpose. It was simply so strange to think of himself of being completely devoid of happiness. Felix was never more glad that he’d abandoned all ties to the cylons.
Felix went to find Dee, based on the information Caprica had given him. Sure enough, Dee did indeed have a copy of My Triumphs, My Mistakes. And Caprica apparently hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d mentioned Dee ranting about it.
“You want it? Take it, it’s yours!” she said, practically shoving it into his hands.
“You didn’t like it much, I assume?” Felix asked tentatively.
“It’s complete and utter bullshit! He thinks all non-Capricans are oppressed under the Roslin-Adama ‘regime’. Do I look oppressed to you?!” Dee shouted. “Don’t believe a damn word it says, Felix.”
Felix had always known Dee didn’t care for Dr. Baltar. Especially so after she admitted helping to rig the election. Apparently the book hadn’t said anything to persuade her differently. It made Felix wonder if perhaps the people who liked the book now were the same people that voted for him two years ago. He definitely needed to read it.
“I wouldn’t believe a word he says at his trial either,” Dee continued. “That man is nothing but a frakking liar and you know he’s just going to make something up on the stand just so he can save his own ass.”
Felix wouldn’t disagree with the last statement. Baltar would do anything to save his own ass. Whether that merited airlocking was where Felix saw things differently.
“And I swear to the gods, if you start talking to me about starting another strike for the good of the fleet, I’m not going to speak to you for a week!”
Dee was right about one thing, it was bullshit, some of the preaching anyway. Particularly about the needs of the underprivileged to rise up against their oppressors and demand more from their government. Gaius had pointedly ignored the demands of labor unions, schoolteachers, medical staff, and just about everyone else who came to Colonial One looking for better living conditions on New Caprica. But the parts about his childhood on Aerelon were at least interesting and seemed from what Felix knew of the planet to be accurate. It was easy to find a message in the book, if you were looking for it, but whether it was actually Gaius’ message and not just a way to attack the people who put him in jail was up for debate.
However, none of that was what caught his attention. What did catch his attention was a chapter entitled The Third Class. What it said was this:
There exists, within our society as it stands today, a third class, outside of both the privileged and the marginalized former Colonial citizens. It is a class so minute that it is often overlooked, if not ignored at all. They enjoy protections from the elite, but are however, not treated as one of them. The second class do not claim them as their own, nor, does it seem, do they wish to. I am, of course, referring to the cylon.
The cylon allied with the Colonial fleet is a class so small, you could count the number of them on one hand; however, they are a class that has become vitally important to our society as we know it.
I had the opportunity to get to know one of these cylons rather well on New Caprica. What I saw was that this cylon endured the hatred of all Colonial citizens, yet remained devoted to human society in a way far greater than perhaps many of us. These cylons show their loyalty time and again and their only reward for it is a safe place to stay. They joined our society when the benefits seemed minimal. The cylon I knew did everything in his power to save our society, yet was sentenced to jail for his troubles. With nothing to gain and possibly everything to lose, these cylons chose to join us anyway.
We isolate them, we admonish them, we wish for their presence to discontinue. They deserve none of this. Their sacrifice is perhaps a greater one than any of ours. And for that, they deserve our respect.
The chapter, Felix realized as he continued reading, was about him. Not only was there an entire chapter devoted to him, but Gaius wasn’t trying to tear Felix down, or shift the blame, or call him out on anything. He praised Felix for his tenacity. Gaius, if he was telling the truth, was admitting that he respected Felix. And though parts of the book seemed dubious, Felix knew that this chapter was the truth. It would have been far easier, and gained Gaius far more favors, if he had torn the cylons down instead. But he hadn’t. Now that there wasn’t anything to be won at Felix’s expense, Gaius’ real opinion could come out. The war between them was over.
It seemed that Felix’s enemies were getting fewer and fewer. Though he wasn’t welcome in the rec room or down at Joe’s just yet, he could safely visit Louis without having to worry. People outside his inner circle even sat by him in the mess occasionally. Gradually people were forgetting, or perhaps just caring less, that he was a cylon. Felix even forgot himself that he was a cylon sometimes.
But there were still reminders. Captain Kelly remained prickly whenever they had to work together in the CIC. Lee was at odds with him, though if that had more to do with Felix being a cylon or taking Dee’s side in their marital spat, he wasn’t entirely sure. And Felix still made it a habit of avoiding Kara Thrace. That is, until the day she disappeared into an interstellar storm cloud.
That event immediately sent all of Galactica into turmoil. The fleet had suddenly and unexpectedly lost their best pilot, or most annoying officer, depending on who you were asking. Either way, no one was really sure how to react. So they all got drunk. It was, oddly enough, probably the most fitting way to honor Starbuck. That night was the first time Felix was able to go to Joe’s when it was full.
“Is it bad that I don’t care?” asked Dee, as Louis passed a round of ambrosia around the table. “I wish it would make a difference between me and Lee, but I know it won’t. If death worked that way, we wouldn’t have a memorial wall. Not caring is the best I can muster at this point.”
“Dee, it’s fine that you don’t care, not that I’ll admit that to my husband,” replied Sharon. “Helo’s broken up about it, which is why I didn’t let him come down here tonight and start drinking like everyone else. You’ve all seen him hung over; I don’t want to have to take care of two children tomorrow.”
Two tables over, a glass shattered on the floor. It was early in the evening, but tonight everyone had started drinking early. Things were bound to get messier.
“So Felix,” said Sharon. “How’s it feel being able to come down here during regular hours?”
Felix watched someone stumble drunkenly over a chair, nearly toppling over someone else in the process and almost starting a brawl. “It doesn’t look like I was missing much.”
“Well,” said Louis, swirling the ambrosia around in his glass. “Usually not everyone in the bar is depressed. I can’t say a better mood makes much of an improvement, but it helps.”
It was funny, in an odd sort of way, that Felix had wanted back into this life, yet now, being here, he took no interest in it. Perhaps it was more the thought the he knew he could come down at will, if he wanted to. It was a shame Cloud 9 had been destroyed; the bars there were much nicer.
“Rumor has it Baltar’s lawyer is starting to talk to witnesses for the trial,” offered Sharon. Dee rolled her eyes, Louis appeared disinterested. Felix was curious.
“Who, have you heard?” he asked.
“No,” answered Sharon. “I only hear what Racetrack picks up on shuttling him from the Zephyr. I don’t know that she’s heard anything specific, and from what I hear about him, it’s probably better she doesn’t ask him any questions.”
“Of course Baltar has a skeevy lawyer,” grumbled Dee. “It’s only fitting.”
The list of possible names of witnesses was running through Felix’s mind. Surely they had to be talking to President Roslin. Someone who’d spent time in detention, which on this ship meant Colonel Tigh. Supporters were probably hard to come by, and certainly not among the crew on this ship. Felix had heard whisperings of a cult of followers that had arisen since the book was released, but he doubted that any such group, if the rumors were true, was likely to be taken seriously by most of the fleet. Eventually, if the defense wanted to build the story from insideColonial One, they were going to talk to him.
“Felix?”
“Hm?” Felix asked, unsure of who had just addressed him.
“I asked if you wanted another round,” said Louis. “This trial isn’t bothering you, is it?”
“Just debating what I’m going to say when he comes me,” replied Felix, shrugging off the concern for now. He’d let his friends worry once someone actually came to interview him. “Fill me up.”
A few tables over, a couple nuggets were arguing over which one of them Starbuck pushed around more. Then one of them threw a punch, and this time, a bar fight did begin.
Felix downed his glass of ambrosia. “Somebody tell me why I thought I was missing out on something here.”
Three weeks went by. Baltar got a new lawyer, his first murdered by Captain Kelly. The given story was that Captain Kelly couldn’t bear to watch Baltar stand trial while hundreds lay dead on New Caprica without justice given to them. The story didn’t quite add up, because Captain Kelly hadn’t even been on New Caprica. Felix had a suspicion that part of it had to do with him and the disdain Kelly so obviously felt towards him. The captain wasn’t able to take anything out on Felix, or Felix’s friends, without being subjected to the wrath of the Admiral, so Baltar was the next closest thing.
Sergeant Hadrian bought the story though, so Kelly was sentenced to the brig for theft and unlawful use of arms, and would be pending murder charges later. The new lawyer was named Romo Lampkin. This was who Felix was expecting to talk to when he finally got the call to come in for an interview. He was surprised however, when the man who greeted him was not this particular stranger, but rather a familiar face.
“Lee.”
“Felix,” Lee greeted him. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to this, but you might be the best witness we’ve got.”
Felix wondered when, and how, Lee had gotten involved in all of this. The man was a viper pilot, not a lawyer. Then again, he was also close to President Roslin, and it wouldn’t have surprised him if the President was using him to try to sway the result.
“I understand you were Baltar’s Chief of Staff, is that correct?” Lee asked. His tone indicated he clearly did not want to be speaking to Felix right now. The feeling was mutual.
“That’s correct.”
“And you were on hand for the day to day operations of the office of the president?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Were you present for the official surrender to the cylons?”
Gods, he had to start with that question. That event was about the only one during the entire occupation that he had little to no recollection of. All he could remember was the startling revelation that he was a cylon as he stared another Seven in the face. If the words “I surrender” had come out of Gaius’ mouth that day, he wouldn’t have known it.
“I was there, but I was a little preoccupied,” Felix said.
“Alright, how about something you do know,” said Lee, flipping through his notes. If this was the way the questioning was going to continue, Felix was going to go nuts. He felt he needed to say something.
“Does Dee know you’re doing this?” was the first thing that came to his mind.
Lee looked up from his papers. “Yes, she does. Can we discuss the more relevant topic?”
“No,” said Felix, putting his foot down. Lee was going to hear him out and hear him out now. Felix had barely ever spoken to Lee before New Caprica, and he really wanted a decent explanation for Lee’s problem with him. Felix’s problem with Lee, well, Lee needed to hear it. “What did she say?”
“It’s none of your business.” That meant Dee hadn’t been pleased. Felix wasn’t surprised.
“While we’re on the subject of Dee-“
“Felix, stay out of my love life, okay?” asked Lee in an exasperated sigh. “I’ve got enough people trying to interfere already.”
“Yeah well,” said Felix, “maybe they have a reason.”
“For the gods’ sake, you’re a cylon!” Lee shouted. “What the frak do you know about relationships?”
That stung. That Lee would think he was incapable of harboring feelings for someone just because he was a machine hurt, even if Felix didn’t particularly care for the man as of late. Just what did Lee think Felix was doing with Louis?
But this argument wasn’t about him. “I know you’re putting my best friend through a lot of heartbreak.”
“Like how you did, you mean?”
Felix felt his blood begin to boil and his spine to grow warm. If he didn’t keep himself in check, he’d end up stabbing Lee with the nearest pointy object. It was a tough battle, but Felix managed somehow.
“At least I admitted that to her. And I apologized. Which is more than I can say for you so far.”
“Are you accusing me of something Lieutenant Gaeta?!” asked Lee, rising from the table and shoving his papers to the side.
“Only of being a crappy husband!” Felix countered as calmly as possible, which at this point wasn’t very calm at all.
“So I should be taking advice from cylons now, is that it?” Lee asked snidely. “Genocide of the Colonies, great idea! Destruction of all civilization, fantastic! Holding my best friend hostage and playing mind games with her, that worked out so well!”
Felix rose from the table to meet him face to face. His chair clamored to the floor, but he had no concern over it now. “None of which I had any part of!”
“You might as well have!”
The conversation was back to him again. Well, if that was the way Lee was going to go, Felix thought he ought to make Lee reconsider his opinion. “Oh,” replied Felix, leaning in a little closer so that Lee could taste the sting of his words. “If we’re going to go down that road, how does it feel to blow up a government building? What’s it like to kill innocent civilians over a can of coffee? How’s it feel to murder Sagittarons just because you don’t like that they don’t believe in medicine? That’s what humans do, and you’re one of them, so you might as well have done it yourself. Gosh Lee, you don’t look so stellar right now either.”
“At least,” Lee growled. “I was born with a conscience.”
“At least I know how to use the one I developed,” Felix snarled. The two of them stared angrily at each other, willing the other to make the next move. Felix seized the opportunity.
“And by the way,” he added, “if you hate cylons so much, why are you defending Gaius Baltar? The ultimate cylon collaborator!”
That caught Lee off guard. He sat back down in his chair, too stunned to speak. Felix could see him grasping for an answer that would make sense. Then he said, much more level-headed than he’d been, “Because I believe in justice.”
“Perhaps you could stand to learn a little more about justice then.” Felix had nothing more to say today. He’d let Lee think about it for a little while. Felix really hoped he’d go and tell Dee all about it. Lee would either hate him more or hate him less, but either way, Felix had gotten what he needed to get out. He knew Lee was a smart guy. Hopefully next time they were in a room together, Lee could give Felix reason to have respect for him.
Felix kicked the chair out of the way and stormed out of the room.
Chapter 10
“Has someone come to talk to you about the trial?” Felix asked Caprica through the phone. He’d managed to calm down since the day before when he’d spoken to Lee. Most of that probably had to do with the fantastic back rub that Louis gave him that night. His boyfriend had talented hands, among other things.
“Just his lawyer. The one with the sunglasses. He seems kind of strange,” she replied.
“I haven’t met him yet. If Lee’s still too pissed to talk to me, I will soon enough though,” said Felix. “What did you tell him?”
“That I should’ve been the one to stab him.” Apparently Felix was now the only person in the universe who didn’t want to seriously harm Gaius Baltar. The man didn’t stand a chance at trial.
“Felix, can I tell you something?” Caprica asked timidly. She wasn’t timid much anymore these days, so Felix knew something had to be up.
“Sure.”
“I keep having this vision. A vision of Hera and Gaius, and me leading them both into this opera house,” she explained.
“Bizarre,” said Felix halfheartedly. She must have been going stir crazy. Being cooped up in a cell for weeks on end could do strange things to your mind.
“Do you think it means anything?” Caprica asked expectantly.
“Um,” said Felix. Visions and prophesies were really not his thing. If anything, he thought they were simply hokum, dreamed up by people who wished to believed in something but didn’t feel compelled enough by mere scripture. “Probably not. But I’m really not the person to talk to.”
“Who would you suggest?”
“I’d say maybe someone in the vision,” Felix guessed. Although talking to Gaius was impossible and Hera really wouldn’t be much help. It was a start at least.
Caprica smiled anyway. “Thanks.”
“Hey, are you going to want updates on Gaius’ trial?” Felix asked, changing the subject.
“No,” replied Caprica. “I don’t care what happens. Or at least, I’m trying to convince myself of that. Please don’t say anything. It’s better if I don’t know.”
Felix nodded in understanding. It was easier to get over someone if they weren’t around. “Sure. I’ll see you later?”
“Tell Louis and Dee I said hello.”
The day before Baltar’s trial was set to begin, Felix was summoned to his lawyer’s quarters. Felix had thought this man with the sunglasses he kept hearing about had been the one to summon him, so he was surprised to see Lee in the room when he arrived. Felix let him speak first.
“Lieutenant Gaeta, have a seat,” Lee offered, gesturing at the chair across from him at the table. Felix accepted and sat down.
“I think we got off to a bad start last time,” Lee said.
“Bad start?” questioned Felix. He had to be kidding.
“Okay, scratch that. It got ugly.” That was more like it. “I know you’re angry with me on behalf of Dee. And I have no room to hold that against you, but can you please leave that between Dee and I? It’s something we’re working on, and I can’t fix it overnight.”
Felix wanted further explanation on his definition of “working on it”, but out of respect for Dee, he didn’t ask. If it was true, he owed it to Dee to give her a chance to work through her issues on her own.
Lee continued. “As for everything else-“ My being a cylon Felix filled in mentally. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.” Good. He’d gotten through. “I don’t like that we have cylons on Galactica. I’m still not sure you’re trustworthy. But you’re right. About justice. It’s not just for the privileged. I’ve spent a lot of time lately reading my grandfather’s books on the law. He had a strong opinion on justice, that the law should apply equally and fairly to everybody. This fleet today might not be a perfect representation of the Colonies, but I think we should strive to uphold the values that made Colonial society great to begin with. And since this fleet seems to include cylons, it stands to reason that they deserve that same vision of justice my grandfather wrote about. I can’t call myself a lawyer without accepting that my father was being just when he gave you your uniform back. So I think the right thing for me to do is to call a truce and tell you that I won’t doubt the truth of the answers you give me about the Baltar Administration. Do we have a deal?”
Felix had been right. Lee Adama was a smart man. They could get to know each other later if they really wanted, but if reason had been what swayed Lee to accept Felix, then Felix couldn’t argue with that. It might not have been an answer Felix liked, but it was an answer he could respect. “Deal.”
“Now. What can you tell me about a death list?”
Felix was walking by the officer’s racks when heard a loud bang of something being thrown against a locker. Baltar’s trial had just begun and to hear someone taking out their rage on something was quickly becoming a common occurrence. He just hadn’t expected Dee to be the one throwing things.
“That frakking BASTARD! I can’t believe him!”
“You that mad at Baltar?” Felix asked, cautiously poking his head into the room.
“Baltar? Frak him, I’m that mad at Lee!” Dee shouted.
“Lee?” Felix asked. Surely this wasn’t about the conversation Felix had last had with him. That had progressed surprisingly well. He hadn’t heard anything else about Lee lately and he knew he definitely wasn’t sleeping with Kara, since she was dead.
“Yes! Oh my GODS! Did he tell you he was a lawyer now?”
“Uh, I think he may have mentioned it in passing,” said Felix, recalling mention of the word, but not thinking anything of it at the time. Now that he thought about it, it at least seemed off that Lee was calling himself a lawyer now.
“He’s defending Gaius Baltar! The most despicable man in the entire fleet!” He’d apparently taken over from Tom Zarek in Dee’s mind, not that Felix was terribly surprised by that. “He’s not just gathering evidence. He’s representing the man at trial! How can he turn his back on the people of the Colonies like that?! I can’t believe him!” Dee fumed.
“What did you say to him?” Felix asked.
“I gave him an ultimatum. Baltar or me.”
“And?” Felix asked.
“What do you think?” Dee spat out. She chucked a pyramid ball at the locker again, hitting it with another loud bang. Felix cringed. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Dee this mad.
“I take it you’re separated now,” said Felix, not wanting to come any closer, for fear Dee might rip his head off at any second.
“Frak that. I told him now that he’s a lawyer, he can mock up his own divorce papers.”
Damn. After weeks of trying to talk her into it, the final straw happened to be Gaius Baltar. The doctor seemed to have a knack for altering people’s lives drastically: Caprica’s, his, now Dee’s. The man ought to wear a badge or something.
Dee chucked the ball at the lockers again. Felix swore he could see a dent beginning to form. He decided just to back away now, before anyone got hurt. He’d help her drink away her anger later.
Felix didn’t believe in the gods. Or God. But when everything began to get crazy all at once, it started to make him question things. First Colonel Tigh was acting like he was losing his mind in a way ambrosia never used to affect him, then Baltar was miraculously acquitted, and then Starbuck reappeared from the dead.
The Starbuck that showed up in a cloud of nebulaic dust was not the same Starbuck that had disappeared a few weeks back. She was deranged, claiming that she’d been to Earth. No one really believed her of course, and she was locked up under suspicion of being a cylon. It was the sensible thing to do. He knew it was terrible of him, but Felix couldn’t help but feel a slight bit of vindication seeing Starbuck locked away under nearly the same circumstances he had been. He could also appreciate the irony if Starbuck did turn out to be a cylon, though it was truly a frightening thought.
Then Starbuck starting screaming about how they were going the wrong waaaaaaaaaay, and Felix knew Starbuck was definitely not a cylon. Cylons were certainly prone to tantrums, but they usually blew things up when they got that way. Screaming and yelling, especially like Starbuck was doing, was too un-robotlike for them.
The Admiral must have been convinced she wasn’t a cylon as well- or perhaps he’d merely lost his mind along with the rest of the fleet. He not only declared her fit for duty, he set her up with her own ship. Thankfully Adama still had the sense enough not to send both his cylons on that mission. Felix really wanted to kiss his feet, even if decorum said that was a bad idea.
Not only did Felix have the joy of being spared two months on a sewage ship with the thing that was supposedly Kara Thrace, he also managed to gain the best living arrangement ever.
Felix shoved Louis against the wall and locked the door to Sharon and Helo’s quarters very tightly.
“It’s all ours?” Louis asked.
“Uh huh,” said Felix, pressing himself to Louis and working his fly, trying to get a hand down his pants.
“For two whole months?” Louis asked.
“Uhhhhhh huh,” replied Felix, successfully managing a hand down Louis’ boxers.
“With no striiiiiiiiii-“ Worked every time. “-ngs attached?”
“Just to check up on Hera every once in a while. And wash the sheets before they get back. That’s it.”
Louis grinned and shoved Felix’s jacket to the floor. “I think I like this arrangement already.”
“Louis?”
“Yes?”
“Frak me.”
“Yes, Sir.”
It was going to be a great two months.
Chapter 11