Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program Battlestar Galactica are the creations of SciFi, RDM, DE and many others and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended by the authors. The ideas expressed in this story are copyrighted by the author.

My Final Action ~ Apollo’s Lady

“What?” Lee held the paper and looked up at the admiral, her father in law, stunned at the news he’d just delivered. “This has to be a mistake.”

Adama refused to meet her gaze. “It was delivered an hour ago from Colonial One.”

Dee fumed and reread the warrant.

Lee remained calm. “The guards are waiting outside for me?”

“I’m not letting them take you. This whole thing is ridiculous. I won’t further compound the insult by confining you to the brig.” Adama groused.

Lee was still amazingly calm. “It’s a presidential order.”

“The president is an idiot. I don’t have to obey. This is a military matter and we’re not supporting the charges.” Adama folded his fingers on his desk before him, seeming confident.

“This is no way to start things off.” Lee reasoned.

Adama slammed his hands on the desk angrily, but before he could speak, Dee shouted. “You sound like you believe him? He can’t do this Lee. You did what you had to do. It was either the Pegasus or Galactica.”

Lee understood the anger of his loved ones. He saw their points and there was a part of him which felt their anger as well. However, there was another part in control of his reaction. This miniscule part of his soul was relieved to have his chance to be vindicated once and for all in his father’s eyes. He knew, before all was said and done, Adama would have to admit his son had been correct. Lee had told him Galactica’s plan to go it alone would not work. Lee would get the chance to make his arguments public. He knew he shouldn’t enjoy the thought, but he did.

Now was not the time to explain these inner workings. “The fleet is struggling to deal with a great deal of things right now. There’s a lot of confusion, loss and frustration in the civilians, even the military. People don’t know their roles.” He considered the situations of he and his wife. He’d commanded his own ship and she’d been his XO. What were they to do now? “They don’t know where they belong. They don’t understand what happened. This decision frightens them. They once had two battlestars protecting them and now they’ve got one. They want answers.”

“I don’t have to explain military decisions to civilians. If I allow this to happen, it will set a dangerous precedent.” Adama responded, as if he hadn’t heard a word his son said.

“If you don’t allow it to happen, it will be a repeat of the Gideon.” Lee was determined to see this trial through to the end.

“A president can’t order a court martial and I sure as hell am not going to.” Adama was utterly unable to understand his son’s willingness to go through this. It screamed mistake to him on all levels.

“I disobeyed direct orders and cost the fleet a Battlestar in the process. Frak! I left civilian ships unguarded…”

Dee rumbled in disbelief, breaking his train of thought. “You did not!”

Lee looked directly at his wife, loving her staunch support, but annoyed she’d interrupted him. “Vipers were temporary. There’s no way they could have guided the fleet to Earth if we’d lost both ships.” He turned his focus back to his father. “You have no choice in the matter. In fact, you may well have to explain why you didn’t call for a court martial yourself.” Lee was completely caught up in this small part of his soul. It wouldn’t let go its hold of his reasoning.

The buzz of Adama’s phone halted the arguments. He picked the receiver up and listened. “Fine.” He cursed as he replaced the phone. “The President and Vice-President are on their way.”

Dee scowled. “They didn’t think you’d follow through? This is just…” Her anger was overwhelming her. Dee was furious and made even more so by her husband’s calm acceptance. She had always been so confident in her knowledge of Lee’s thoughts and motivations. She had no sense of where he was at the moment and it frightened her.

Lee smiled and grabbed his wife’s hand. “It’ll be fine. We all know I did what had to be done. We’ll explain it and record the decision for history. It will give us more stability in the future.”

Adama leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “I’ll never understand you, Lee. We don’t need to explain ourselves. We never have and there’s no need to start now.”

Lee rolled his eyes. “Dad, you of all people know and have often said things have changed.”

“Not everything!” Adama challenged.

Dee was trying to hold on to optimism. “Maybe they’re here to rescind the order?”

Neither Lee nor Adama replied. The three waited in silence. A few minutes later, Tom Zarek and Laura Roslin arrived. Roslin was obviously agitated. “I came as soon as I heard about this… this insanity!”

Zarek shook his head. “I’ve never pretended to be anything other than the voice of the people. I’m just doing what they need.”

“NEED? You’d destroy a man’s career for a petty whim of revenge?” Adama stood and faced down Zarek.

Lee hadn’t considered the end of his career. He didn’t really think he’d be found guilty. The control of his thoughts and words was beginning to change.

“This has nothing to do with revenge.” Zarek stopped, thought for a moment and then continued. “I take it back. It has everything to do with revenge, just not mine.”

“That’s a load of crap.” Adama growled. He glanced at Lee, who seemed content to allow his father to fight his battle. It wasn’t like Lee, but Adama knew deep down, he owed his son this battle. “You’ve fought us at every step.”

Zarek’s smile was his most charming. He shook his head at the same time. “The people are looking for someone to blame. You’ve been here on the ships for the past eighteen months. They’ve been living in hell.”

Dee snarled. “Whose fault was that? We didn’t suggest moving to the planet. I believe that was your party.”

Zarek chuckled, while everyone else nodded in agreement with Dee. As usual, the former terrorist and current president, continued on with confidence. “It was President Baltar’s decision. I know it was a mistake, but the people aren’t worried about that right now. I was on the planet with them and Baltar is gone, who knows where. What the people see, is a significantly larger, softer Commander, who destroyed unarguably our greatest military asset.” He knew his point was hitting them hard and he relished in the power he felt. “The people are also angry at each other. They point fingers and throw blame about. We’ve had to break up attacks against people they feel were cylon collaborators. They’re attacking themselves. We’re tearing ourselves apart from within.”

Roslin just shook her head. She had no words. She knew most of what he said was correct. They all did.

Adama did have a response and he didn’t hesitate to offer it. After glancing at Lee, he said what they were all thinking. “So you’ve decided to sacrifice Lee to the civilians… deflect attention from the collaborators by giving them someone else to hate and blame.”

Lee’s worry grew. Listening to the men was inspiring doubt in him like never before. “Why me?” It slipped out.

Zarek smiled. “I thought I explained that?” He gestured, as politely as he could to Lee’s midsection. “Not to mention, you disobeyed direct orders to return.”

Lee’s desire to win a battle against his father, paled in light of this new knowledge. It wasn’t worth it anymore. “I’m not going to be allowed a fair trial, am I? If your plan is to work, I need to be punished.”

“I don’t enjoy this, Lee.” Zarek lamented.

“That’s Commander Adama to you!” Adama shouted. “Don’t you EVER disrespect my officers again!”

Roslin was frightened by Adama’s angry response. This side of him terrified her. “It doesn’t matter anyway. There’s no way this can happen before I assume office. I won’t proceed with this.” She turned to Zarek. “You had to know this.”

Zarek nodded. “That’s why the trial is tomorrow.”

Roslin saw Adama motioning but held her hand out to stay him. “Even if he was to be found guilty, I’d simply pardon him. Why destroy his reputation? He’s a hero! If the Pegasus hadn’t returned, we’d have lost the Galactica.”

Zarek’s smile never left and indeed, grew. “The assumption Commander Adama made, was that the Galactica and presumably her commander, the Admiral, were more important to the fleet than the Pegasus. The people don’t see it that way. They knew the Pegasus was bigger, stronger and better equipped to handle this journey. Many feel this betrayal is as great as collaborators.”

“I’m as much to blame as he is then. I refused to allow the Pegasus to take part.” Adama groaned and stepped forward. He knew he’d actually just conceded part of Zarek’s argument. “Get off my ship before I have you thrown out. Is that what you want your final action to be?”

Zarek frowned. “No, I want my final action to be a show of support and understanding for the people of this fleet who have already survived too much.”

“You self-serving bastard!” Dee announced him as what they were all thinking.

He chuckled. “It might seem that way, but that’s not it. My only concern is the future. The Roslin presidency, although good in purpose, has a tendency to forget all but the most basic, physical needs of the fleet. I merely want to ensure they get emotional support as well and I’d rather they focus on one, rather than each other.” He paused and quietly added. “It had to be now. I knew none of you would understand.”

The room was stunned into silence, which Lee finally broke. “Zarek, I need to know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t really believe we could have saved as many as we did if we’d changed anything, do you? Yes, Pegasus was the finer ship.” He looked pointedly at his father. “We all know physically she was. We discussed sending her in for that reason. The crux is, whichever ship went into battle, neither one could fight off four basestars. We’d be down to one ship no matter what.” He scanned the other faces in the room. “If we accept that one ship would be lost, did we also assume one commander as well? This wouldn’t be happening if only one officer had returned. So basically what you’re putting me on trial for is surviving. Isn’t that true?” Lee had never felt less value in his life.

“I don’t like to look at it like that.” Zarek said bluntly. “I’ve always said you were the future of this fleet.”

“I was supposed to die.” Adama finished his thought. “You’d have liked that, wouldn’t you. A real thorn gone from your side.”

Before Zarek could answer, Lee backed his father up. “You can’t seriously believe I would be any different. The Admiral gave me command of the Pegasus for a reason.”

Zarek smiled. “Like father, like son? I didn’t think it was true. Maybe you’re right. I can see I might have miscalculated. It doesn’t change anything.”

Roslin was numb, but had to take one last shot. “I’ve got a suggestion, a compromise of sorts.” She looked at the relevant faces and proceeded when she had their full attention. “Commander Adama, it’s true. You disobeyed a direct command. It’s also true you lost your ship in the process and… Admiral Adama, isn’t it true, we have an influx of officers? Might I suggest a demotion as punishment, for Commander Adama?” She again silenced Adama with a hand. “And to appease your desire to see to the people of the fleet, Mr. Zarek, I’ll offer you the position of Vice-President.” She watched their stunned faces and then continued. “This way you can work with me to meet the needs of the fleet.”

“I accept.”

Both Lee and Zarek spoke in unison.