Fic: Deliver Me 6/7 BattleStar Galactica 2003
Deliver Me
By: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own BattleStar Galactica.
Rating: Adult.
Genre: Slash - Lee Apollo/Leoben
Summary: Apollo is debriefed by the Cylons, but things aren't going as he expected.
Warning: Violence, Character Death.
Spoiler/Timeline: Season 2 Pressing his fingers to either side of Lee's neck, Doc Cottle harumphed. After a second check, he released the young man. Walking over to the exam table, he picked up a fresh cigar and lit it. Blowing out the smoke in Lee's face, he grinned. "You're healthy as a horse." Turning to check on his other patients, he passed the guards and pointed at Lee. "You can take the brat to his cell."
"Gee, thanks." Frowning, Lee tried to button up his shirt despite not being able to move his arms very far above his waist. He didn't get very far before the guards were at his side. He grinned at them. "Don't suppose you'd be inclined to help me out here?"
"You can do it when you are in your cell." Grabbing Lee's arm, the Sargent led him away from the gurney in the exam room towards the exit.
Sighing, Lee allowed the man to guide him. He was only one in a long line of people who seemed to want to run rough shod over him. Someone must have spread word around the ship because as they passed over the bulkhead in to the corridor, they were surrounded by gawkers. From what he had heard about Boomer's death, the sight of all these people didn't settle well with him.
He tried for stoic as the guards shoved the people aside. At first it worked because people were too stunned to react. Then, when the shock had worn off, they began to speak. It started in whispers, then they began to shout to be heard and suddenly the entire crowd had turned in to a mob.
The first hit stunned him. The second one pissed him off. Grabbing the closest person, who just so happened to be the first person who hit him, Lee brought up his knee in to her stomach. She gasped and he let her fall back out of his way. Before he could get close to the second person, more guards had come and were driving them away.
Lee waited for them to get the situation under control before he spoke. "What the frak is going on here?"
"Frakking Cylon!" The deck hand who shouted it was rushed away by his friends before Lee could see his face.
It was worse than he thought. Some how, he wasn't a bit surprised that they thought this. He wasn't quite sure himself, but it seemed a pretty safe bet. This time, they let him walk by himself, without being led by his arm. He was grateful for that.
Passing through what remained of the mob, he felt the need to try at his bonds. His quick jerk on the chains made them jump back and him smile. "Pathetic. It's no wonder your side lost."
"Keep moving." The marine sargent butted the barrel of his gun in to Lee's back to emphasize his words.
"I am." Lee knew this would get reported back to his father, it always did, no matter what he did or how many miles were between them. At least this time he wouldn't be judged in comparison to his father. He'd done something the old man had never done, he'd become a cylon. Snickering, he continued on down the corridor towards the home he knew last six months ago.
It was far from the comfortable berth he had shared with seven other bodies, but at least he wouldn't have a roommate this time. Laura was keeping his father company, he wondered why she was here instead of with her people, after all, she was the president. Unless that had changed since he was last among them. He wondered who was in charge.
It didn't matter as he was at the brig after the next bend. He had to step back and let the marine sargent open the hatch before he walked in. What he had thought was going to be an empty brig was already occupied on one side. "Looks like we are going to be sharing a room. What they got you in for?"
Chief Tyrol was about to tell the guy he could go frak himself until he recognized the voice. Sitting up quickly, he stared so hard he thought his own eyes would fall out. "How.... where did you come from?"
"Well, you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much..." Snickering, Lee waited for the guard to open his cell. Walking in, he turned around as the door was shut and held up his wrists to be freed. After they were, he reached down and held up the belt buckle for easy access. When it wasn't removed, he glared at the guard. "Come on, I haven't changed clothes in over a week!"
Ignoring him, the marine sargent turned for the door and left the brig.
"Great, just great." Walking over to his bunk, Lee threw himself back on to it. He was going to be stuck here for a while. Looking up, he saw that Tyrol was still watching him with wide eyes. "How've you been, Chief?"
"I must be insane." Rubbing a hand down his face, Tyrol blinked to clear his vision. Still, the specter remained in the other cell. "You're dead!"
"My career, yeah, pretty much." His lips twitching in humor, Lee leaned on the edge of his bunk. "Being a cylon kinda does that."
"You're a cylon?" He knew that he looked like a fool with his mouth hanging open.
"I'm not sure, but everyone seems to be convinced I am, including the cylons." Shrugging, Lee put it off as if it wasn't a big deal. "They tried really hard to convince me, just couldn't quite give me definitive proof."
"And what would that entail?" Now he was in the second stage of disbelief. At this rate, he would be almost willing to accept for fact that Captain Apollo was sitting across from him.
"You know, some special abilities. I hear they are faster and stronger, not that I could tell. But the real proof would have been another me. Never saw any of it, just a bunch of fancy theatrics now that I think about it." And it was true. They hadn't done anything that would really prove he was one of them. That seemed to make him feel let down. "Truth of the matter is, I'm in here because someone said I'm something I might not be. Doesn't really matter either way. How about you, you never did say?"
"Wow, that's... something." As Lee continued to stare at him, Tyrol shifted away. There was no reason to hide it. "I'd been having a hard time sleeping, night mares waking me every night. After a couple nights of this, I discovered getting drunk would knock me out enough I could sleep. One night, Cally... she got in the way, set me off. I thought I was dreaming." He lowered his head to his knees. "By the time they stopped me, the president's aide was already dead."
Lee couldn't help it, he busted out laughing. His sides were shaking so hard he fell off the bunk. "You... Billy? Oh, oh god, that's tragic!" Rolling to his side, he tried to sit up, but the giggle fit gripped him again and he fell back. "I suppose this means Zarek is now president, everyone else has gone insane, any thing's possible." By the time they had subsided, tears had coated his face and he was aching from the fit. He lay there on the floor ignoring the glare Tyrol was sending him.
"Actually, Dr. Gaius Baltar is now president." Standing in the hatch, Brother Cavil observed the prisoners with an air of resigned dignity.
"They have gone insane. Electing a traitor, I bet they think they are so smart." Another laugh erupted from Lee. "Why yes, I would like to cast my vote for the man who betrayed humanity to the cylons. No, it doesn't bother me that he is basically responsible for their mass genocide because he couldn't keep it in his pants. Yes, that is what I consider good moral character! Besides, he's a doctor." He couldn't control it any longer, he just lay there laughing so hard that he started coughing.
Tyrol had tuned him out as he laughed about Billy, choosing instead to face Brother Cavil. Sitting up on the end of his bunk, he eagerly longed for the distraction the man provided him during his weekly visit. To his disappointment, the Brother wasn't paying attention to him, but was watching Lee. "Brother Cavil?"
Cavil turned to Tyrol and frowned. "Yes, Tyrol?"
"You here for me?" As if he didn't know.
"Oh, right, right. Sorry, I'd heard about him, just wasn't quite prepared to meet an actual cylon." Frowning, Cavil took the seat near the hatch and dragged it over to sit in front of Tyrol. "You remember what we discussed last time, Tyrol?"
"Yes, I've thought a lot about it." Tyrol glanced nervously over at Lee. He didn't want to share this kind of knowledge with someone who had clearly blown his valves.
During a lull in his laughter, Lee realized there was another person in the room. Turning over to see who it was, he sobered quickly. Crawling to his feet, he found that he wanted nothing more than to test the softness of the pillow on his bed. He reached out, ran his fingers over it and savored the feeling. "Soft." The wall behind the bed also drew his attention. It was metal. "Hard."
Watching Lee become entranced by the way certain objects felt, Cavil frowned again. "I don't believe he is going to be a problem."
Glancing over his shoulders to see who spoke, Lee saw the bars. They were also metal, but a different kind. He quickly made his way to the bars. They were round and smooth, not just smooth like the walls. They were also hard. "Metal."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tyrol had also become uncomfortable with the sudden change in Apollo.
Lee glanced up at Tyrol, hands continuing to feel up the bars. "Hmmm? Oh, these bars, they are smooth and hard, but round, not like the wall."
"I think it is best we leave the cylon to itself. It can prove dangerous." Cavil tried to distract Tyrol. When his words didn't work, he snapped his fingers. "Tyrol!"
The shout distracted Lee. Jumping, he stared wide eyed at Cavil. Something on the edge of his vision tried to distract him, but he bit his tongue to keep from finding out what it was. "I know you."
"You're mistaken, we've never met before." Dismissing Lee, Cavil went back to trying to talk with Tyrol. "Now, as we discussed last week, there are fundamental flaws in the way you see the world."
"I know you!" Lee's arm shot out through the bars, trying to grab Cavil, who dodged away from him. "You are a liar! You... Shiny! The light, so bright." Eyes watering from the strain, he focused on the lamps over head. He had to grit his teeth to turn from them, no matter how much he wanted to see them. "I know you!"
"Ignore him, Tyrol, he has clearly lost control of his mind. If we ignore him, he will simply lose interest and go away." Despite his words, Cavil had stood and backed towards the door.
Tyrol was caught up between the two men. He was horrified and fascinated at the same time. Lee was definitely having a fit of some kind, but he couldn't quite bring himself to call out for help.
Shaking against the bars, Lee began to knock his head against them. "I know you. You are... Pretty lights, four in a row, each one brighter than the next. Hyldguard!" And it came to him through the distractions, the sensations. It had all been a set up. It wasn't real. None of it truth. All an elaborate hoax. Gritting the bars and his teeth, body shaking so hard that he could barely hold on, Lee glared at the retreating Brother Cavil. "Cylon."
"Guards!" Cavil hit the panic button on the hatch. "He's having an attack! The cylon is having an attack!"
"Cylon! You!" He uncurled his index finger from the bars and pointed it at Cavil. "Toaster! You! Frakking! Toaster! You! Cylon! Cylon! Cylo...ah!" Something in his head snapped and Lee's vision flared before going black.
Tyrol could only watch in horror as Lee slumped down against the bars of his cell unmoving.
The hatch finally opened and Cavil was in the way. Taking the shoulder of the nearest marine, he shoved him towards the cells. "The cylon! He's trying to commit suicide!" Slipping passed as more marines came rushing in to the room, Cavil ran down the corridor.
In his cell, Tyrol watched as medical personnel came in to take Lee away on a gurney. It didn't make sense, what the hell had set him off? Why had he tried to attack him and Brother Cavil? "He kept saying you cylon. But I'm not a cylon." He shook his head. It was right there on the edge of his thoughts. "I'm not a cylon. Not a... not the cylon. He's a cylon. Brother Cavil's a cylon."
"I will be with you soon, my lovely. Keep our bed warm." Baltar ended the comm with a kiss.
Fear welled up in Gina, he was coming back. He wanted more from her, of her. That... man wanted to touch her, to be in her. He was expecting it, demanding it. That beast was going to force himself upon her again.
"No!" Standing up, she slammed her arm across the table, clearing it in one swipe. "No! Never again! Never!" Sniffling, she shook her head from side to side. "Never."
There was a way. She would make it stop, make all of them stop. It would be over, finally over. God would forgive her, he would if he existed. She would be in his arms, only his arms, no other's. God would forgive her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have to tell you, I don't like this one bit." Adjusting the cigar set in his lips, Cottle relit the end of it, blowing out smoke in his private office. Off to his right were Roslin and Bill, all were looking down upon a set of screens that monitored one bed. He didn't like the fact that they had his infirmary bugged, much less that it was only one bed.
On the one bed lay a sedated Lee. His body had stopped seizing shortly after being brought in, but after that, he'd been feral and attempting to hurt everyone around him. Cottle had been cursing up a blue streak from the moment he heard about what he considered a boy having possible head trauma. Either that or he was possessed.
Unfortunately, his scanning equipment had died suddenly and violently when they had tried to get Lee in it. The techs were still trying to track down the bugs. It was not hard to connect Lee's condition to the source. Since he wouldn't know until he could look inside the boy, it would have to wait.
"I understand, Doctor, but this is necessary for the security of the ship." Since she had come aboard after losing the presidential race, Roslin had been taking care of things that an assistant usually did for Bill. With Gaeta still learning what it took to be a good flag officer, she filled in many of administrative gaps. One of those was the overseeing of prisoners' security. "You objected to a constant guard, this is the most reasonable compromise."
"Where else do you have those damn cameras?" Chewing on the cigar now more than smoking it, Cottle used it to grind his teeth upon.
"The new cells, a few other security check points. Until now, they had been banned because the cylons could use them, but it has been felt that the benefits outweigh the risks." What she didn't tell him was that they were only in places the prisoners had access to, his infirmary and the cells. If he thought they were in other places, he would have less grounds on which to object.
"I will leave you two to handle this." Bill uncrossed his arms and moved towards the door. Hand on the handle, he paused. "I will be interrogating the cylon."
Laura didn't break her gaze away from the monitors, but nodded.
As if he had been waiting on it, Bill opened the hatch and walked out.
"Well, aren't you two getting cozy." Leaning back against his desk, Cottle grinned maliciously at her.
"We are strictly professional, Doctor." Which was strictly true. If she was to be his civilian hand, she didn't need to be down the front of his pants. "I need someone to always be in here watching him. His security is priority."
"I'll say. It's not every day that the MIA son of an Admiral suddenly returns from behind enemy lines." As he spoke, Lee's had tossed to the side on the bed and he groaned in his drugged sleep. It was strange to Cottle. "I have taken the liberty of checking his body for more burns, it is apparent that only his face was effected. Judging by the healing, I would say he's only had them for about two months."
"A month after he disappeared." Narrowing her eyes, Roslin studied his face over the gritty monitors. "Curious, how the burns are only located on his face."
Cottle grunted in response. "I'd say from the extent of the damage, he should be covered. It was a flash burn from exposure to a large blast. Either they healed him or he's been sticking his face in holes he shouldn't have been."
"Then why not heal the face?" This time, she did look at Cottle for the answer.
"May be they were interrupted, may be the face was too hard to repair, who the hell knows? They're cylons!" Cottle was through answering her questions. Stepping away from his desk, he walked over to the door to the infirmary and opened it. "Get out."
She knew better than to argue with him. They were still on rocky soil after last month. Rising to her feet, she smiled at him to show there were no hostilities on her part. Passing him in to the infirmary, she walked over to stand beside Lee.
Cottle slammed his door shut and locked it. There would be plenty enough time to respond if someone came in looking for him later. Right now, he was curious about the president and her interest in the kid.
Rubbing Lee's forehead, Roslin wiped away the perspiration that had gathered there. He settled in to her touch, calming down considerably. She brushed away a part of his bangs out of a maternal habit. "What did they do to you, Lee?"
"Mnsasna." Shifting away, Lee's eyes briefly opened. Clearing his throat, he shook his head.
Taking it on the off chance he had actually responded, she touched his cheek. "What did you say?"
"My name. S'not my name." Lee fought off the sedative, his heart rate spiking on the monitor. He didn't want to sleep, didn't want to be here. "Two! I'm Two!" Adrenalin flooded through him, suddenly making him pull on the restraints. Surging up off the bed, he glared at whoever was beside him, he couldn't quite make out who the person was.
Roslin jumped back, a hand going to her mouth before dropping to her side.
"You pathetic human, God will never forgive you for what you've done! He hates you! Hates you! We will not rest until you've all been exterminated! There is no running, we will find you!" By the time he finished, he was spitting and growling incoherently.
"All right, that's enough!" Pulling out his syringe, Cottle removed the cap and jabbed it in to Lee's IV. As he dosed the line, he slammed Lee back down on the bed. "I had a feeling you'd prove resistant to the normal drugs, let's see how you feel on Morpha." As he kept Lee down on the bed, he found himself regretting it.
In the security room across from her cell, Sharon watched the whole thing on the monitors and smiled. Beside her, she was acutely aware of the old man and his discomfort over the situation, but couldn't be bothered to dredge up much sympathy. If it was an act, Apollo was pulling off the best performance of his life. There were mornings she woke up wanting to scream the same thing at her captors.
The only difference was, she had mind enough not to go insane as at the time she had a very important reason. That reason was gone. Which was also another reason she enjoyed watching this with Adama. His child turning against them. They had taken her child, her people would do the same in return.
"Is what he says true?"
She was about to turn to him and assure him that was the way her people felt, but the humor left her at his expression. Sobering up, she shrugged. "I don't know. I've never met a Two before."
"Why?" Adama was ready for just one smart assed remark from her and then he would rip her a new one.
"In comparison to even the most hard core of us, they were insane." Clenching her jaw, she focused back on the show still going on in the infirmary. Lee had fought off the Morpha and was now trying to do the same to the restraints. "Self righteous to a fault, they took it upon themselves to be the one devout, the true voice of God. In the early days of their creation, we learned to feel the horror of our own existence, of what we could truly do if left unchecked."
"What happened to them?" If Lee was one of these, it would mean that he could very well lose his only son.
"A few were saved, spared the madness that seemed to have infected their very core design. But most," she glanced over at the Admiral, a shudder running through her at the thought. "Most were deleted. Usually, when a model is malfunctioning, we destroy the unit and box the memories to prevent potential spread. They tried to wipe out the rest of us, we had no choice. It was agreed by all that the only solution to the Two madness was permanent deletion of all infected." She paused to take a calming breath. "Even we aren't perfect."
"Humility from a cylon?" Settling back against his chair, Adama released a sigh of disgust. "You know the consequences of your actions, yet you did exactly what the Twos tried. What gave you the right?"
"We had every right!" Clenching her fists, she stood up from her stool. How dare he compare her to those glitches! "What the Twos tried and what we did is very different!"
"I fail to see how." Adama had his own hand on the weapon in the holster on his hip. He wasn't taking any chances this time.
"You enslaved us! We are both fighting a war for survival." A cruel grin spread across her lips as she saw his reaction. "It was either you or us and we are the superior beings. God chose us, you lose, the end."
Pointing at the screen where Lee was being forced back down on the gurney once again, he felt his own rage rise up. "Where did frakking with my son come in to that?"
"How well do you really know your son, Admiral?" When he didn't respond, Sharon moved for the door and banged on it to let the guards know she wanted back to her cell. "The real question you should be asking is how far are you willing to go before love is no longer enough. Is he really worth it?"
"You son of a..." Cottle drew back and slugged Lee across the chin. That did the trick as his head snapped back and he fell back unconscious. Shaking his sore hand, Cottle cussed under his breath. Pulling out the vial he'd been trying to wrestle from Lee, he tossed it to a medic. "Get me the results on that blood sample immediately!"
There was no time for incompetence. If he didn't get something to put the son of a bitch under fast, then they'd have to cut him open without an anaesthetic. A metallic scanner had found something near the base of his skull that was the cause of killing his machines. The internal scanners had been repaired, but they needed to remove whatever was in there before they could do a full work up.
Blowing out a powerful stream of smoke through his nostrils, Cottle searched his infirmary for someone to yell at. These people were usually better at their jobs than this, but today things were going all to hell. His unlucky choice was the visiting captain from the battlestar Pegasus. "What are you doing in my infirmary?"
Walking towards the cordoned off area, Starbuck smiled at him. "I've come to see the prisoner."
"Well you can't, now get out." Moving off to the other side of the infirmary, he ignored Starbuck's attempts at getting his attention. He took a clipboard from a nurse, signed off on the rationing of medicine, then walked in to his office. He knew Starbuck wasn't going away and he wanted to see what she made of the asshole patient.
Waiting until the staff were distracted by the arrival of a few of her people, Starbuck snuck around the security barrier and in to Lee's area. She was disappointed to find him unconscious with a big bruise forming across his jaw. "What the hell have you gotten yourself in now?"
Since he was unable to respond, Kara sighed. There would be no answers this time around. She had wanted to get a little information about the cylons since he had spent so much time with them. "You know, I'm not sure if I believe it, but you have to admit, the evidence is pretty convincing." She stayed by his side for another minute before giving up and walking out.
In his office, Cottle sighed. There went one avenue of questions. But it also reminded him he had another fourty-five new people who needed to be examined for diseases and infections. His work was never done with all these damn people.
Sensing his chance as the door opened to let in the guard with his noon meal, Tyrol stood up and walked to his door. "Hey, you gotta tell the Admiral I need to see him."
The guard ignored him, instead, he placed the tray on the shelf and opened the paddock on the cell door to shove the food in. Closing the paddock, he turned back for the hatch.
"Listen! It's important! This involves the cylons!" Shaking the door, Tyrol growled in anger. "Listen to me! He has to..." The hatch was shut and he was once again left alone.
Walking down the corridor away from the mess, Kara had her mind on a problem and her arm around another. Anders had thought he would escape meeting the old man, but Kara knew differently. She had wrangled him from the others in the chow line, handed him a sandwhich and dragged him out. They were now on their way to the old man's quarters.
Turning down the last bend, she saw the guards on the door and frowned. That was new. At the door, she didn't wait for them to react before knocking on the door. She nearly had to nail Anders down to keep him from getting away from her.
"Who is it?"
Kara frowned at the voice. It was female. Who would be in there with the old man? Pulling the door open, she dragged Anders in behind her then stopped short at the sight of Roslin. "Madam President?"
"Not any more." Not looking up from the monitors, Roslin half smiled. Beside her, Adama sat watching the monitors together. "What can we do for you, Captain?"
"Okay." Shaking her head, she forced Anders to stand in front of her while she shut the door behind them. "I'd like to introduce you to my piece of man meat before he finds a hole to hide in and never crawls back out."
At that, Roslin turned to them smiling. "Hello, my name is Laura Roslin. I am the civilian attache to Admiral Adama." Holding out her hand to him, she gestured with her other arm to Bill. "This is Admiral William Adama."
Taking her hand nervously, Anders watched them with concern. Something about them set his nerves on edge. He never liked meeting the girl's parents, they always were way too judgmental for his health. Feeling it might make a better impression on them, he smiled nervously. "Samuel Anders."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Anders." Glancing over at the monitors as Lee stirred, she let her smile slip. "I am afraid there isn't much we can offer you. Our resources have been redirected towards settling on a new planet by the current administration."
"A new planet?" This time, Kara took the lead again, she noted it was much to Anders' relief.
"One of your Raptors reported back six hours after you left. They had discovered a new planet that might prove to be a haven from the cylons." By the tone of her voice, Roslin knew they could tell what she thought of that. "I was against settling, but the majority of the people were tired of running and too afraid to listen. Needless to say, I lost against Baltar. His first presidential act was to move our people to this world. We've jumped to the system, but have kept our distance on a security patrol."
"Baltar?" At the name, Anders was alarmed. "Gaius Baltar?"
"One in the same." Focusing on Anders, Roslin felt her curiosity rise. "Have you heard of him?"
"According to the cylon... I mean Apollo, he was the one who betrayed us to the cylons." Now he was the center of attention again. Feeling like he was sinking, Anders clenched his hands behind his back. "When he woke up soon after he was given back to me by the cylons, all he could do was rant and rave about Gaius Baltar and his cylon whore. Most of it was incomprehensible, but I got enough to know that this man was pretty much seduced in to giving up our security codes by one of the Blonde models."
Roslin felt like her heart had stopped, ice gripping her chest. She'd known it, some how, she had known all along. Coming to grips with her anger over the situation, she adjusted her glasses. "That is most unfortunate."
"What do you mean, unfortunate?" Kara was livid. This was the first she had heard of it and was ready to kill. If it was true, then they had to do something about it. "We have to make him pay for this!"
"That isn't possible now." Speaking for the first time, Bill faced Kara and Anders. "He's too well insulated in his position and location. If we moved against him at the moment, the people would turn against us in a heart beat. Unless you have hard, physical proof, there is nothing we can do."
Shoulders slumping, Kara felt like everything had just gone to hell in a hand basket. She just wanted something to go right just once, let them have a victory without any of the sorrows. A loud cry came over the monitors to distract her. Kara winced in sympathy as Lee was injected roughly with something near his neck. "What are they doing?"
"A metal chip was found in his neck. They have to remove it before they can scan his brain for damage. Doc Cottle believes it is partly responsible for the dizziness and seizure he experienced a few hours ago." Rubbing at his own war wounds in sympathy, Bill felt their long ago aches. "Nothing they've tried is working, so they've given him a massive dose of local anesthetic to help him ease the pain." And it was failing miserably as Lee screamed on the monitor.
The ship rocked as the power flashed and the monitors died.
"What the hell happened." Reaching for his handset, Adama was nearly thrown from his feet as another explosion rocked the ship. Holding it to his ear, he waited for the line to pick up. "Report!"
On her side, Duala was trying to divide the chaos. "We're not sure! The Dradis isn't able to pick up a clear signal, but we believe a nuclear weapon went off." She gripped her console as the ship bucked under her feet. "Two more explosions have been detected and the blast waves are on the way, sir!"
"Brace yourselves!" No sooner than the words were out of his mouth than the ship was buffeted about and the power finally went down. In the dark of his quarters, he heard groaning from the other three people. The monitor feeds flickered, giving them some light. A final wave hit them so hard that two of the three monitors exploded.
Holding on to the hand set, Adama pressed it against his ear. "Is there someone there?"
A high pitched shriek filled the cabin followed by many panicked voices. "Someone tell them asses in CIC to keep the ship out of the way of explosions!" Cottle's voice rose above the den of voices coming threw the speakers on the monitors. "I need those sutures now, he's going in to shock! If we don't seal this up, we're going to lose him then you can explain to the Admiral why his son is dead! Get your asses is gear, now!"
Roslin watched Bill in the flickering monitor feed from the remaining screen. In the dim light, she thought he was pale as a ghost. She jumped as another shriek filled the room.
"Hold him down, we've got to cauterize that! Get the replacement blood now!"
"Doctor, we're losing him."
"I can see that. Quit bitching and start suctioning away the excess blood."
"Which is the excess?"
"All that you can see!"
"I can see it, sir. I've got a hold of it!"
"Good, now pull the damn thing out and let's close him up!" Cottle's angry voice caused the monitors to shake.
"Sir, we are getting reports of casualties across the ship."
"Unless my hands are in their wounds, they can wait! Suction out the rest then close." The sound of plastic gloves snapping were heard over the feeds. "Admiral, your son is going to make it, no thanks to whoever blasted the frak out of the ship. Bring on the next patient!"
"Right away, sir."
A moment of relief was crushed under immense rage. Adama put the handset back to his ear. "I want to know what the hell just happened, and I want to know now."
Kara, who had landed on top of Anders, let her head rest against his shoulder. At least here she was guaranteed to be a little comfortable, despite his discomfort.
Roslin rose to her feet a little shaky and a bump on her forehead. Crossing to their chairs, she pushed the table away from her and sat down.
In CIC, Duala picked up her head set and put it on with a wince. A trickle of blood rand down her cheek from the cut under her eye where she'd slammed face first in to the console. "Sorry, sir, that last blast knocked out all our scanners, including dradis. From what we got before they went down, at least five ships were destroyed when a nuke went off. We were hit by the blast waves from their FTL drives going up."
"I'm on my way, inform Mister Gaeta." Hanging up the handset, he felt his way over to Roslin. After he checked on her, he moved to the door and turned the bolt to open it. The door swung open in to an empty, but dimly lit corridor. "Captain, I need you to get down to engineering and check on their status. The president can handle matters with our civilians."
"Aye, sir." With resignation, Kara climbed off Anders, but gave him a peck on her way up. "Duty calls, Anders. Stay with Roslin, she'll make sure you are taken care of." Turning to Roslin, she felt her training kicking in to place and several things that would need to be checked came to mind. "The rest of the civvies are in the mess, I am sure they will need a strong hand."
"Go, I can handle this." Wiping her forehead with a cloth to make sure there was no blood, Roslin climbed to her feet again. "Come, Mr. Anders, seems we have something to do after all."