Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV
program Battlestar Galactica are the creations of SciFi,
NEVER GIVE UP ~
Mick1997
Part One
Chapter 1
“After the stunt you pulled, you’re lucky I don’t lock you up and throw away the key!”
Admiral Cain was angry. How dare he order a mission without her knowing about it.
“You’re fortunate that Lieutenant Thrace was able to bring back such useful information, so I can overlook a few things. But you need to realize something. This is not your father’s ship.” She snickered a little. “In fact, I have no idea how he’s made it this far letting the inmates run the asylum, so to speak. The rules are different here. There are consequences to your actions.”
Lee stood, back ramrod straight, at attention. **Here it comes** he thought.
“To start with, you will be demoted back to the rank of lieutenant, and your flight privileges have been revoked.”
Lee swallowed deeply, trying to keep his face emotionless. There was a knock at the door, and two Marines entered.
“You’re right on time.” She looked at Lee, a sadistic smile on her face, but continued speaking to the Marines. “You will escort Lieutenant Adama to the brig where he will receive the rest of his punishment.”
Lee couldn’t help the look of surprise that came across his face. “All I did was…”
“All you did was go behind your commanding officer’s back!” she yelled. “From your records, it looks like it’s not the first time, either. You need to relearn the chain of command, Lieutenant. Take him.”
The Marines went to Lee’s side. Lee stared at Cain for a few seconds longer, then went with the guards.
They roughly pushed him into a cell.
“Hey!” Lee said, putting his hands up. “What’s the deal?”
“You heard the Admiral,” one of them said. Lee noticed a third man enter the room, and he suddenly had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen. He took a defensive stance.
“Now, we’re all on the same side here, fellows. We’re fighting Cylons, not each other.”
One of the men advanced on Lee, but Lee was quick and was able to give him a right hook. The man staggered back a bit. “Ooh, this one’s feisty.”
The other two them made their move. Lee was able to hit one of them in the gut and push past the other. He was able to get to the door, but found it locked. Before he could react, one of the men grabbed Lee by the hair and slammed his head into the door.
Lee felt the world start to spin but tried his best to stay conscious. If he knew anything, it was that he was safer awake—at least then maybe he had a chance.
Two of the men grabbed him on either side, and the third began pummeling Lee’s body—stomach, chest. Once he was finished, he switched places with one of the others.
Lee had no idea how long the abuse went on. His world narrowed to just the pain he felt. Finally, they dropped him to the floor and laughed.
“Maybe this will teach you who’s in charge,” one of the men said, kicking Lee in the ribs. “Admiral Cain has ordered you to spend two nights here. Sweet dreams, Adama.”
The room was dark and silent. Lee felt cold. He tried to curl into himself as much as possible to stay warm. He never in his life wanted his father to come and rescue him as much as he did now.
Adama sat going over the latest reports on the Resurrection Ship. He heard a knock at his door. “Enter.”
“Sir,” Kara said, standing at attention.
“It’s good to see you.”
She gave him a smile. “You, too.”
“This is some intel you got, Lieutenant.”
Kara cleared her throat. “Actually, it’s Captain now.”
Adama looked up and glanced at her collar. “So it is. Congratulations,” he said with pride in his voice.
“Thanks,” she answered. She looked around the room, biting her lip. “There’s, um, something else.”
Adama looked concerned. “What is it?”
“Well, I got promoted due in part because of the intel I got. I showed…initiative.”
“You did,” Adama agreed.
“Only, I didn’t. Lee ordered me to take the Blackbird and see what I could find, after Stinger grounded me. I got promoted, Lee got demoted.”
“Demoted? Why?” Adama asked, his voice rising a notch.
“For going behind Cain’s back. Not only was he demoted, his flight privileges have been revoked, and right now he’s in the brig. I tired to see him, but he’s not allowed visitors.”
Adama’s face grew red with fury. “Thank you, Captain,” he said.
“But, sir, about the attack?”
“Looks good. I’ve signed off on it. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he said, effectively ending the conversation.
“Uh, yes sir,” she said, turning to leave.
Once she had left, Adama picked up the phone. “Get me Pegasus Actual.” He waited until Cain picked up on the other end, and immediately asked her about his son.
“He did not go through the proper chains of command. That is why he’s being punished.”
“You promoted Starbuck,” Adama pointed out.
“She only followed her senior officer’s orders. It was lucky for her that she found something useful. Your son is sentenced to two nights in the brig. He will not be a part of the attack. I would think you’d feel relieved about that. You won’t have to worry about anything happening to him. Do I need to remind you, Commander, that I am ranking officer and Lieutenant Adama is stationed on my ship?”
“No, sir,” Adama answered huskily.
“Good. Get your men ready. We attack in eight hours.” The line went dead.
Adama sat down at his desk and took his glasses off. He rubbed his hands over his face, replaying Cain’s words in his head. You won’t have to worry about anything happening to him. Adama suddenly felt that his son would be safer engaged in battle with the Cylons than on the Pegasus.
He picked up the phone. “Get me a raptor ready ASAP.”
Adama piloted himself to Pegasus. He told no one of where he was going—he didn’t want Cain to get the heads up. He docked and disembarked from the raptor quickly. Since most of the crew was getting ready for the operation, they paid little attention to him. He made his way towards the brig, ducking a few times at the sight of someone who would recognize him.
He entered the brig, pausing to look into the cells. He saw the Cylon prisoner first—she was lying on the floor of the cell, obviously beaten. He made his way down the corridor and stopped at the third cell. He looked in and his heart dropped. Lee was lying, curled into a ball. Adama could easily see the bruises on his face. He immediately stated yelling for the guard.
“Sir, this is a restricted area.”
Adama glared at the Marine. “That is my son in there. He needs medical attention now.”
“Sir, you aren’t allowed down here.”
Adama got right up in the man’s face. “What part of medical attention do you not understand? Look at him, for fraks sake! He’s a soldier, just like you.”
“Hardly,” came the cold voice of Helena Cain.
Adama turned his glare to her. “What did you do to him?”
“I told you, he did not go through the proper chains of command.”
“So you beat him?” Adama spat out disgustedly.
As the two argued, Lee slowly turned his head. He noticed shapes in front of his cell, and while he couldn’t hear them because of the glass, he tried his hardest to focus on them. As his vision cleared, he saw Admiral Cain and cringed. He turned his eyes to the other shape. Dad. He almost laughed in relief. His father was here, everything would be okay. His father would get him off this ship; get him back to Galactica where he’d be safe. He watched the two, wishing he could hear them.
“He needed to learn a lesson, Commander. Did you never spank your children when they misbehaved?” she asked, almost mockingly.
“Not to a bloody pulp. His order got us vital information.”
“He broke the chain of command. He’s done it before—mutinied, broke his parole. He needs to understand that I refuse to put up with this. Now, he’s been assigned two days in the brig.”
“He needs a doctor NOW!” Adama roared.
“He’ll be fine—more bruised ego than anything. When he’s released, I’ll send him to life station.”
“I want him to come back with me. I’ll make sure he serves his…time.”
Cain chuckled. “Of course you would,” she said disbelievingly. “He stays here. And if you don’t leave now, I’ll extend his stay.”
Adama continued his stare down, then slowly turned to Lee. He saw his son’s eyes were opened and looking at him. He hoped fervently that Lee understood his message. I’m not leaving you. I’ll get you out of here. He turned back to Cain. “This isn’t over.”
Her eyes turned cold. “Yes, it is.” She turned to the Marine guard. “Escort the Commander back to his raptor and make sure he leaves. All ships that are requesting clearance to land have to go through me.” She turned back to Adama. “Good luck, tomorrow, Commander.”
Adama took one last look at his son, then left.
Lee watched his father walk away, fear creeping into every part of his body. No, no, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me. He felt the tears sting his eye.
The door opened and Cain dropped onto the floor, leaning into his ear. “Even dear old daddy can’t help you, Lieutenant. Sleep well,” she sneered, and pushed his head into the floor.
Lee tried once again to curl into himself, wishing for all the cubits in the world that this was nothing more than a horrible nightmare.
Adama stormed off the raptor. He needed to so something. There was no way he was going to leave his son on that woman’s ship.
“Bill, where have you been? We have a big op coming up, and you just disappear?”
“Not now, Saul,” Adama ground out.
Tigh put his hand on Adama’s arm. He could feel the anger radiating off his old friend. “What’s wrong?”
“Cain’s a lunatic.”
“I could have told you that.”
Adama started walking away again. Tigh followed him all the way to his quarters and watched as Adama downed two glasses of ambrosia in about five seconds total.
“What’s happened?” he asked, concern in his voice.
“She’s punished Lee for giving that recon order to Kara.”
Tigh nodded. “I heard. You have to admit, Bill, he does have a tendency to break the chain of…”
Adama threw the glass across the room, instantly silencing his XO.
“Does that give her the right to beat him? To throw him in the brig with no medical attention? Frak, Saul, I saw him. He needs a doctor. There’s not even a bed in that frakking cell!”
Tigh was shocked. “She did what?”
“You heard me. She said he needed to be taught a lesson. She actually had the nerve to equate it to me spanking my kids when they were little.”
Tigh took a couple of breaths. “So, what do you want to do?”
“I’ve got to get him out of there, Saul.”
“Just tell me what you want to do.”
Adama sent a silent word of thanks to his friend for his support. He paced the area behind his desk for a few minutes. ‘Right now, it’s impossible to get back on board. As much as I hate this, we need to wait until the attack. Ships will be coming and going. We should be able to get a team over there, unnoticed, and get him out. Everyone will be busy, hopefully they won’t notice until it’s too late.”
“Okay. And what if they do notice? What if someone tries to stop them?”
“They take any means necessary to get Lee off that ship.”
“Okay. I’ll put together a team.”
“Thanks.”
“Get some sleep, Bill. You’re going to need it.”
Adama nodded, knowing full well that he wouldn’t sleep until Lee was safely on board his ship.
The blinking of the ship’s lights got Lee’s attention. He could feel the vibrations of the battle through the floor of his cell. He hoped they were winning, hoped Kara was okay.
He thought back to his father. His father had left. He knew that Cain had something to do with it. He had seen the look on his father’s face. It was one of resignation. The Old man knew he had lost. But the he would feel old hurts arise and wondered why his father didn’t fight harder for him. He knew this train of thought was wrong, but it was so easy to go down that path. He sighed. His whole body hurt, he was thirsty, hungry, and cold. He glanced briefly at the Cylon prisoner in the next cell. He could tell that they had hurt her, too. He had heard the rumors about what was done to her. She may be the enemy, but not even the enemy deserved that kind of treatment. Wasn’t humanity supposed to be better than that? If not, then why had he been fighting so hard for so long? He felt the ship shake again. Something didn’t feel right. He closed his eyes and let out a breath, wishing the Pegasus had never shown up.
The battle started off well for the Colonials. They managed to destroy the Resurrection Ship and were busy taking on the basestar when two more suddenly jumped in.
“Frak!” Kara swore under her breath. “We cannot hold them, Pegasus,” she said.
“Stay out there and fight,” Cain ordered over the wireless.
Pegasus shook with a blast from one of the basestars. “Sir,” Hoshi said, “our FTL’s are off-line.”
“Well, get them back on-line,” Cain ordered.
On Galactica, Tigh looked at Adama after hearing Kara’ report. “We’re getting torn up out there.”
“I know.” Adama stared at the Dradis. “Has the raptor landed yet?”
Tigh nodded. “Five minutes ago.”
Three of Galactica’s Marines headed towards Pegasus’ brig, intent on getting Lee Adama out. There were two guards posted at the entrance to the brig.
“Move out of the way,” they said, aiming their weapons at the Pegasus guards.
The guards refused. The Marines knew this wouldn’t be easy. They raised their weapons.
“Put them down, boys,” Gunny ordered.
The Pegasus guards refused to comply. They had heard rumors that Adama was a weak leader—he would never order his men to shoot one of their own. They stood their ground.
Gunny made eye contact with his two men, then looked back at the two guards. “Okay, fine.” He turned as if he was leaving, then swung back with is gun and struck one of the guards in the temple, knocking him out instantly. The other guard attempted to fight, but was quickly subdued. Gunny looked at one of the men. “Stay here. Keep a look out.” He directed his gaze to the other man. “Follow me.”
Within a matter of seconds, he found the cell Lee was in. “Dear lords,” he murmured upon seeing Lee’s condition. He shook Lee lightly. “Captain Adama, sir.” No response. “Apollo,” he said a little more forcefully.
Lee’s eyes fluttered opened and his eyes focused on the man in front of him. “Gunny?” he asked, clearly confused. “What are you doing here?”
Gunny smiled. “We’re here to get you out. Can you walk, sir?”
“I…I think so.” With the help of the other man, Lee got shakily to his feet. Gunny put one of Lee’s arms over his shoulder, then the four of them made their way to the hangar deck.
Both battlestars were taking heavy damage.
“We can’t hold them much longer!” Kara screamed.
Cain was angry. She hated admitting defeat. “Frak!” She looked around. “Order the Vipers to land on whatever ship is closer. Tell Galactica to spool up her FTL’s and jump to the civilian fleet.”
“Yes, sir. Um sir, we have a report that three of Galactica’s Marines have boarded and have Lieutenant Adama with then.”
“Why that…find them and stop them!”
Lee felt the familiar beginnings of a FTL jump…
Galactica jumped away…
One of the basestars launched a missile right as Pegasus jumped…
And suddenly Lee felt like he was on a roller coaster ride. He was being thrown all around the corridor. Alarms were going off. He heard the words over the intercom.
“We’re going down! I repeat, we’re going down!”
The ship began a rapid descent. Lee tried to grab onto something—anything—to stop his fall. But it was no use. He barely had enough time to register what was happening, then his whole world went black.
Chapter 2
Lee blinked as awareness came back to him slowly. He tried to gather his thoughts together to remember what had happened to make him hurt like he did. He sat up cautiously, then closed his eyes as the world began to spin. He waited until the dizziness passed, then took stock of himself. Definitely more bruises to add to his collection, and judging by the way his head was swimming, he probably had a concussion. He risked opening his eyes again and felt his heart stop. It looked like the ship had caved in all around him. There were twisted pieces of metal and sparks everywhere. The emergency lights cast an eerie glow all around him. He looked up and realized he was staring at the floor.
“What the frak?”
He slowly got up. “Hello? Hello, is there anyone here?”
No response. He made his way down the corridor, every now and then calling out. Finally, he was rewarded with an answer.
“Captain Adama?”
Lee went to the voice. “Gunny? Are you hurt?”
“I…I’m not sure. Nothing hurts. Are you okay, sir?”
Lee began moving debris off the Marine. “Just bruises on top of bruises.”
“What the frak happened?”
“I’m not sure.” As Lee removed the last bit of debris, his eyes grew wide in horror.
The look did not go unnoticed. “What is it?” Gunny asked as he looked down at his chest. “Frak me,” he whispered. There was a six-inch piece of metal protruding from his chest. The man chuckled slightly. “No wonder nothing hurts.”
Lee looked around, not sure what to do. Gunny took the dilemma out of his hands.
“You need to get out of here, sir.”
“I’m not leaving you. Not after you…” But Lee was unable to finish the thought. **Not after you risked your life for me.**
“I’m not going to make it.” As if on cue, he coughed, and a small amount of blood trickled from his mouth.
Lee turned his head, a pained expression on his face. “Gunny…” he began.
The injured man reached his hand out weakly, which Lee took. “Your father is worried about you. You need to get out of here.”
Lee nodded and took a deep breath. “I…thanks.”
The other man smiled and closed his eyes. Lee gave his hand one last squeeze, then left.
As he made his way down the corridor, he found the other two Marines who had been sent to rescue him. They were already dead. He passed at least a dozen of Pegasus crew members, already dead or close to it. Just when he was about to panic at the thought that he was the only survivor, he heard voices. He moved in their direction, but was stopped when he came to a hatch. He tried opening it, to no avail.
“Hey!” he yelled, banging on the metal. “Hey! Help!”
He heard someone yell, then the squeaking of the handle being turned. The hatch opened, and he closed his eyes as he was blinded by an immense light.
“Thanks,” he said as he felt himself helped out the door.
He immediately froze at the sound of the cold voice. “That man is a prisoner. Detain him.”
The hands gripped his arms tighter, and Lee opened his eyes.
“Well, Lieutenant, I had thought you perished,” Cain sneered.
Lee looked around. “What happened?”
“Not that I owe you any explanation, but it appears that we were hit by a Cylon missile as soon as we jumped. We ended up in this planet’s atmosphere and crashed.”
Lee took in the scene. Pieces of Pegasus dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see. It looked like the ship had broken apart and rained down on the planet for miles. The air smelled of burnt metal and…flesh.
At that moment, Hoshi appeared. “I have a count, Admiral.”
“Go ahead.”
“So far, we’ve found about three-hundred fifty survivors, but about a quarter of those are severely injured and unable to move.”
“What of the medical staff?”
“A handful of medics survived, but Doc Lester did not. They’re treating some of the injured.”
“I want you to get a group together and gather up as many supplies as possible. Food, clothes, medicine, that kind of thing. Tell the medics to only treat those who are able to make it on their own.”
“And the others?” Hoshi asked slowly.
Cain’s eyes narrowed. “Are casualities of war. We are out in the open here. We have no idea if there are Cylons around.”
“What about Galactica?” Lee asked.
Cain turned a hateful glare to him. “Daddy isn’t coming to rescue you this time, Lieutenant. You are a prisoner—you keep your mouth shut.”
Lee refused to let the woman see his fear, so he held her gaze with an emotionless face until she turned back to Hoshi. “You have two hours, then we move.”
“Where to, Admiral?” That came from one of Cain’s senior officers. Lee thought the man’s name was Garner.
She turned to the scenery behind her. “We head towards those mountains. There’s bound to be caves up there, and the terrain is probably rough. Might make if difficult for Centurions to get up there. Let’s get to work, gentlemen.”
She then turned her attention back to Lee and the two men who were still restraining him. Lee really didn’t know why they still held him—it’s not like he had anywhere to run.
“He is to be under guard at all times. He was trying to escape as we jumped. He cannot be trusted.” She called out to Hoshi. “Oh, and see if you can find a pair of shackles for our prisoner. We wouldn’t want him getting any ideas.”
Lee laughed to himself at the absurdity of the situation. They had crashed onto an alien planet. There may or may not be Cylons in the area. There were dead and injured all around, and Admiral Cain wanted shackles for him. He should have just stayed in the corridor.
A few hours later, a little less than three-hundred of Pegasus’s surviving crew was making their way towards the mountains. Hoshi had indeed found a pair of handcuffs, which Lee was now wearing. It made moving more difficult, not to mention the various injuries he had from the beating he took and the crash. He didn’t really think there were any internal injuries, though. Just enough bruises to last him a lifetime, however long that would be. His thoughts turned to Galactica. He hadn’t seen Kara on the planet, so he could only hope that she had landed there. He wondered if they had even managed to get to safety. Was his father looking for him? He one time told Lee that he would never leave, but how would Adama even know where to start looking?
The sound of gunfire and the whizzing of bullets over his head broke him from his reverie.
“Cylons!” someone yelled.
The survivors began firing back. Lee saw one of the men fall over from a bullet in the chest. He scrambled over and began firing the man’s discarded weapon. Cain saw the movement and made her way over to him.
Lee heard the click of a gun in his ear. “Drop it,” came the icy voice.
Lee turned to look at her. “Are you crazy? You need all the guns you can get!”
“You’re a prisoner, Lieutenant. Drop it.”
Lee could tell by the look on her face that she would fire on him. He reluctantly dropped the weapon. Before he could react, Cain rammed the butt of her gun into his stomach. He doubled over, and she leaned in close.
“Do it again, and your punishment will be worse than you can imagine.”
Lee looked up at her, more afraid of her than all of the Cylons in the universe.
He sat on a rock, watching as the crew picked up the discarded weapons of the dead. They had lost about fifteen crew members before destroying the last of the Centurions. A few of the crew were silently praying over the men and women who lost their lives. Cain spoke up.
“We do not have time to mourn those who are lost. We need to get to the mountains. Gather up all the supplies. Move out.”
Lee saw a set of hands in front of his face and looked up. “Major Garner.”
The older man gave him a sympathetic smile. “Let me help you up.”
Lee accepted the man’s assistance. “Here,” Garner said, offering him a canteen. “Everyone else has had some water. You need some, too.”
Lee thanked the man, then took a few sips.
“It would be to your advantage to listen to Admiral Cain. Don’t make it worse on yourself.”
Lee looked at the man. “Why do you care?”
Garner shrugged. “I had a son, back on Caprica. You’re about his age.” With that, he walked off.
Lee watched the man go and noticed something fall from his pocket.
“Hey, Garner, you dropped something,” Lee said, pointing to the ground.
Garner went back and picked the item up. Lee noticed it was a watch, and it appeared to be pretty worn. Garner smiled, nodded a “thanks,” and then the group headed towards the mountains.
When they finally reached the caves, they were all beyond exhausted. Cain sent a small group to scout out the rest of the area, as those who were left went about setting up camp.
Lee felt utterly helpless. He was still handcuffed, and was forced to sit by and watch as others worked. It was killing him inside. He was the type of man who had to help—needed to help. He hated to have to sit idly by and do nothing. It made him feel useless. Invisible. But he supposed he was to this crew. There was no love lost between the crews of the two battlestars. He was an outsider here, not to mention a prisoner. He wondered briefly if this was how the rest of his life would be.
A medic kneeled in front of him. “Are you injured, Lieutenant?”
Just as Lee was about to answer, Cain called out. “He is to be treated last, and only if absolutely necessary.”
Lee smiled at the young woman, who reminded him of Cally. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’m fine.”
She nodded slightly, then went to check on the other injured.
Some time later, the scouting party returned, out of breath. “There are a few dozen empty caves in the area. Most of them are interconnecting.”
“Good job. We’ll set up camp, spread people out.”
“There’s something else. We saw the Cylons. It looks like they have some sort of prison camp set up. There were about seventy-five of our people there.”
Murmured curses were heard throughout the caves. Cain digested the information. “We set up camp tonight. Tomorrow, we work out plans to get our people back.”
The group saluted her.
Lee watched as the survivors split up to head to the other caves. No one paid him much attention—they were all busy unrolling sleeping bags, setting up and eating dinner. He sighed and leaned back against the cave wall. A watch was set up, and those not on first watch went to sleep. Lee began shivering as the temperature dropped. He pulled up his legs and rested his head on his knees. He tried his best to ignore the rumbling in his stomach. He felt someone sit beside him.
“Here.”
Lee turned to see Garner handing him a bowl of chili. He placed a small glass of water on the ground. “It’s cold, but it’s food.”
Lee took the bowl and ate. “Why?” he asked again.
“I told you. I have…had a son. He was on Caprica when the attacks happened. If your father made it, I’m sure he’s worried sick about you. I would want someone to help out my child. I’m doing the same thing.”
Lee felt his eyes water up at the man’s kindness. Everyone else ignored him, treated him like he didn’t matter. Garner got up and returned with a blanket.
“It’s not as warm as the sleeping bags, but it’s the best I could do.” He helped Lee straighten it out over himself. “How are your injuries? Do you need any medical attention?”
“Nothing a few weeks at the beach wouldn’t cure,” Lee answered jokingly.
Garner gave him a warm smile. “Okay, then. Let me know if that changes. Sleep well,” he said, then headed to his bed roll.
Lee decided that maybe he could trust this man. It would be nice to have one person who would look out for him.
Chapter 3
Tigh kept glancing back to his old friend. It had been a little over twenty-four hours since they jumped, and still no sign of Pegasus. Adama hadn’t moved from his spot in CIC—he kept his eyes fixed on the Dradis screen. Every time a raptor jumped back from a search, Adama held his breath, hoping this time there would be news. But the report was always the same—no sign of the missing battlestar.
Tigh approached Adama carefully. His friend looked like he was about to spit nails.
“Bill, you’ve been at this…”
“Shut up, Saul.”
Tigh pulled him aside. “Bill, you need to take a break. You’re not doing anyone any good in this state.”
The look on Adama’s face broke Tigh’s heart. Only one word came to Tigh’s mind as his friend started talking—anguish.
“He’s my son, Saul. The way that frakking crew treated him, he might as well be in the hands of the Cylons. Hell, they’d probably treat him better.”
“Bill, I know you’re worried. But you’re going to make yourself sick. How am I supposed to explain to Lee when he gets back why his father is in life station?”
Adama was about to give in when
“Have you got anything?” Adama asked anxiously.
Kara glanced at Tigh and shook her head slightly. She hated having to tell him this.
“Well,”
Adama eyed his two junior officers. ‘There’s more, though.”
“Where?” Adama asked flatly.
“In the engines,”
Adama felt like he’d just been hit by a brick—a very large brick. He could feel himself losing his grip on his emotions.
Tigh noticed the subtle change in Adama’s face. “Look,” he said. “Racetrack went back and scanned the area of the attacks thoroughly. There were no signs that Pegasus was destroyed. It’s very likely that they got out of there and are in the midst of repairs.”
Adama stared at his friend. “Thank you, all of you. I’ll be in my quarters.”
Adama quickly left CIC and hurriedly made his way to his room. Once there, he shut and locked the door. He took one look at the picture of his sons, and broke down.
The days became a blur for Lee. The only change was in their numbers. During the first raid on the Cylon prison, five more survivors were captured and ten men were lost. Cain seemed to be losing her mind more and more everyday. She insisted on keeping up the rescue attempts, even though they were sorely undermanned and were running out of ammunition. Lee made the mistake one day of telling her she should rethink her plan, which earned him a night without dinner. When she caught Garner trying to sneak him some food, she took away Garner’s rations and forced Lee to sleep outside tied to a tree.
The weather was changing, too. Although the planet was cold when they first arrived, it seemed to be getting colder. Lee had the distinct feeling that winter was about to hit them, and it wouldn’t be easy. He tried to tell Cain that they should be focusing on finding and storing food, but she just laughed and had a couple of the men take out their frustrations on him.
After those two instances, Lee gave up trying. Based on how Cain was acting, either the Cylons would find them all or they would die from starvation. Lee didn’t find either appealing. The only times he went without the handcuffs were when she left Garner in charge. He would make sure that Lee’s hands were hidden and take them off. His wrists were raw from where the cuffs chafed them, so the young medic who had offered to help him treated them. If Cain knew what was going on, she didn’t seem to notice.
Lee passed his days by thinking of his family. He tried to stay warm by remembering their family vacations to the beach. He smiled at the memories of his Grandpa Joe acting out his most exciting court cases. He thought about Kara—she was probably driving Tigh nuts as CAG. He thought about his father, and prayed he would be able to get the fleet to Earth. He knew his dad had tried his best to save him. He just hoped that the Old Man didn’t blame himself for anything. The only person who talked to him was Garner. And he was only able to talk to him when Cain wasn’t around, so Lee spent much of his days alone. At one time in his life, he would have relished the solitude, but not now. Now it just left him feeling cold and empty. He longed for some human interaction.
They were down to about a hundred-fifty survivors when the first snow fall hit. The temperature dropped drastically. Most of the crew stayed huddled underneath their sleeping bags, close to the fire.
Cain had never allowed Lee anywhere near the fire—she wanted everyone to know that he was not a part of them. He still had the blanket that Garner had given him, but with the temperature dropping, it wasn’t enough. One morning, while she was out scouting the area for another attack, Garner handed Lee some extra clothes and a sleeping bag. Lee had recognized the clothes from another man. Garner just shook his head at the questioning look Lee gave him. Lee nodded sadly, then put the clothes on.
“Thanks,” Lee said softly.
Garner gave him a warm smile.
“So,” Lee started, “you ever going to tell me about the watch?”
Garner pulled the item from his pocket and laughed. “This old thing?”
Lee nodded. “I notice you looking at it quite often.”
“It’s still on Caprica time. I imagine what I’d be doing there if the Cylons hadn’t shown up.” Garner got a wistful look on his face. “My son gave it to me one year for my birthday. He was about six years old. He was so proud of it.”
“That’s nice,” Lee said softly.
Cain returned in time to see the entire exchange between the two men. She stalked over to them.
“Major Garner,” she stated coldly.
Garner immediately shoved the watch in his pocket and stood at attention, staring at a spot on the far wall of the cave. “Admiral Cain,” he replied, all military.
Cain looked down at Lee, who looked at her right in the eye. He’d be damned if he let her see his fear. She turned back to Garner.
“What is going on here?”
Garner looked slightly confused. “Nothing, sir.”
Cain got right in Garner’s face. “Did I see you giving the prisoner clothes?”
Garner swallowed, then coughed a little. “Um, yes sir.”
“Need I remind you that he’s a prisoner, a mutineer?”
“With all due respect, Admiral, the temperature is dropping. The man who wore those clothes isn’t coming back. According to our laws…”
“Our laws don’t mean anything! We are at war, Major. We need men who are loyal, not traitors!”
Cain looked back to Lee, whose expression remained unchanged. “I should force you to take those off, but I’m feeling generous. They’ll be the last thing you receive.” Cain looked around the cave. Her yelling had caused everyone to stop what they were doing—the silence was deafening. “Listen to me, because I’m only going to say this once.” She pointed to Lee. “Anyone who goes out of their way to help this man will be considered an accomplice and will be treated in the same manner. Supplies are to be distributed among your fellow crew members only! Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” came the loud reply.
“Good. Get back to work.” She turned back to Garner. “You, too, Major. I have a job for you.”
Garner gave a sympathetic look to Lee before following Cain.
Lee sat back against the cave wall and closed his eyes, wishing a hole would just open up and swallow him.
Adama put down the papers he had been holding. His eyes caught a glimpse of the picture of his sons. It had been almost two months since Pegasus disappeared and still no sign. He hated that the last image of his son was of him lying beaten in a cell—it was the image he saw every night in his dreams.
A knock at his door drove him from his thoughts. “Enter.”
Kara looked around the room, then quietly shut the door.
“Captain,” Adama said. “What can I do for you?”
“I was just coming to drop off some reports, sir.”
Adama took the folders from her hand and began reading them. He felt her eyes on him.
“You plan on burning a hole through me?”
“Huh?”
Adama sighed and looked up. “Is there something else, Starbuck?”
Kara bit his lip. “It’s just…I’m just…”
“Spit it out.”
“I just want to make sure you’re doing okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Kara shifted nervously on her feet. “Because of Lee.”
Adama looked down. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
Her eyes grew big. “You think he’s fine? You think he’s still alive?”
Adama stared at her. “Yes, I do. Lee’s a survivor. He knows how to take care of himself.” **Because I wasn’t there.**
“With all due respect, Commander, the chances of Lee being alive are minimal at best.”
Adama stood up. “What exactly are you saying?”
Kara shook her head. “Nothing, never mind, it doesn’t matter.” She turned to go, but Adama’s voice stopped her.
“You think he’s dead,” he stated, his voice soft but angry.
She turned back to him. “All the evidence…”
“All the evidence pointed to you being dead when you crashed on that moon, but Lee never gave up hope. How could you give up on him?”
“I…” she looked away, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
Adama sat back down. “You’re dismissed, Captain. I’ll read over these and get back to you.”
Kara nodded and left.
Adama sighed as the door shut and looked back at the picture. “Where are you, Lee?”
Chapter 4
Lee wished he was anywhere but where he was. Garner had left a little while ago with a team to scout out the area for supplies.
A few days ago, Cain had sent a group on another raid on the prison. It appeared that the prisoners there were from Pegasus only. Apparently, the Cylons had been in the process of building the base when Pegasus crashed. The Cylons had gotten lucky.
Lee didn’t want to think about the prison. So far, they hadn’t had much luck getting anyone out and lost a lot of good men in the process.
He had started to doze when he felt a gun press against his temple.
“Get up.”
Lee opened his eyes and stared into Cain’s.
“I said, get up.”
Lee got up awkwardly. “What’s going on?”
“Come on,” Cain ordered in a steely voice. “We’re going for a walk.”
Lee looked around the cave, suddenly very fearful of what was about to happen. He decided to try to reason with her. “It’s awfully cold out there, and it’s been a while since I’ve really walked. Can’t we just talk here?”
She pushed him forward. “Move it,” and then she shoved the gun into his back for added incentive.
She said nothing as they walked. Lee stumbled a few times; his muscles protesting their lack of use, but Cain would jerk him up and urge him forward. After about an hour, she forced him to stop.
“Look at me,” she ordered.
Lee did as he was told.
She gave him an evil smile. “I’ve been watching you, Adama. I know what you’re trying to do.”
“Trying to do?” Lee asked slowly.
“I know you’re trying to get my crew to mutiny. It seems to be your thing. But it won’t work. They are loyal to me.”
“I’m not…”
“Shut-up!” she yelled. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. They might work on your father, but he’s not here, is he?” she said, laughing at him. “I’ve come to the decision that you’re a liability to us. You use our food and water. I have to make sure there’s a guard with you at all times. I can’t trust you anymore than I can trust the Cylons. So, like the Cylons, there’s only one thing I can do to remedy that.” She cocked the hammer and aimed at Lee’s head.
“What are you doing?” Lee asked.
“I’ll just tell everyone that you were trying to escape. You have escaped custody before. It’s a pattern with you. Mutiny, escape. But the fact that you plan all this while we are fighting for our lives is reprehensible. Good bye, Lieutenant.”
Lee squared his shoulders. He knew there’d be no getting through to Cain.
**At least it’ll all be over** he thought. Lee met her gaze and watched as she pulled back on the trigger. Time seemed to move in slow motion. He heard the shot, but felt nothing. Cain gave him a strange look, then fell forward, a gaping hole in her back. He looked up, trying to get his brain to catch up with his eyes.
“Garner?” Lee asked, stunned.
Garner ran over to him. “Are you okay?”
Lee’s eyes darted back and forth between the man in front of him and the woman lying dead on the ground.
“Lee?” Garner asked worriedly.
“I…I think …” but he never got the chance to answer as bullets started whizzing by.
“Cylons!” Garner yelled. “Let’s get out of here.” He pulled on Lee’s arm, and both men began running for their lives.
“Does it look like we lost them?” Lee whispered as Garner came back to their hide-out, which was basically them hiding behind some bushes.
“I think so. I say we hide out here for another thirty minutes, then head back to the caves.” Garner looked at Lee’s wrists. “Here…in all the chaos, I forgot to take these off.”
Lee rubbed his wrists once the cuffs were removed. “How did you know?”
“Hoshi. He saw the two of you leave and knew something was up. He came to find me as soon as she was out of sight.”
“Remind me to thank him.” Lee looked up at Garner. “I owe you thanks, too.”
“For what?”
Lee looked shocked. “Um, how about saving my life? Not to mention making sure I got food, warmth…”
“She had no right to treat you that way, no matter what you did. But then again, after the things that she allowed to happen to our Cylon prisoner, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’m only sorry I allowed it to go on this long.”
“Now what?”
“We get back to the caves.”
“And what are we going to tell everyone when we get there? What if they decide to follow through with Cain’s plan?”
“They won’t,” Garner stated matter-of-factly.
Lee looked wary. “How can you be so sure?”
Garner looked at Lee a moment before answering. “Because I won’t let them. Let’s go.”
Garner and Lee showed back up at the caves around dinner time. The crew stared at them suspiciously and mumbled quietly to one another. Hoshi walked right up to Garner. He acknowledged Lee with a polite nod, then turned to Garner. “What happened? Where’s the Admiral?”
“First things first. Get Lieutenant Adama some warm food and some coffee. Then gather everyone in the main cave. I need to talk to them.”
As Hoshi turned to leave, Lee stopped him. “Hey, um, I know you’re the one that let Garner know something was up.” Lee smiled at the man. “Thanks.”
Hoshi returned the smile, then set about following Garner’s orders.
Lee turned to Garner. “What are you going to say?”
Garner shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know when I figure something out,” he answered with a smirk.
While one of the medics was busy applying ointment to Lee’s battered wrists, Garner began speaking.
“Admiral Cain is dead.”
The group let out a collective gasp, then somebody called out, “How?”
Garner sighed and looked at Lee. “She was shot…”
“Hey,” a man yelled, “Adama was gone too! Did he do it?”
Garner held up his hands to calm them down. “No, he didn’t. If you really want to know who did it, I did.”
The silence was deafening. Garner took this as his chance to explain everything.
“She was losing it—surely I was not the only one who noticed? She wasn’t leading us. She was sending us to our deaths. She took Lieutenant Adama out to kill him, in cold blood!”
The crowd started yelling out again, most of them claiming it was a lie.
“It’s true!” Hoshi said. “I saw her! She took him out of here, still cuffed, at gunpoint! You do the math.”
The crew quieted down, a few occasionally shooting evil glares Lee’s way. Lee tried to ignore it and focused on Garner’s words.
“Who’s in charge now?” someone asked.
Garner sighed. “Well, I am senior officer. I guess that means I’m in charge. Any objections?”
No one moved. A few “no, sir’s” were heard.
“Okay. Now, the first order of business is that Apollo is one of us. He is a Colonial warrior, and the second highest ranking officer here. Because of that, he will be my second in command. Before anyone says anything, he was sentenced to two days in the brig and served two months. He has more than paid for his crime.” Garner noticed some of them men exchanging glances—Lee wasn’t the only one who had been treated unfairly by Cain. “I trust him,” Garner added.
Some in the crowd were about to object, but Garner wouldn’t let them. “You have a choice—you can stay here or you can try it on your own. Either way, what I said stands. You are to treat him with respect. We will still try to rescue our men from the prison, but our first order of business is storing up on food. Judging by the wind today, it’s about to get a lot colder, and we don’t have much left to eat. I’m going to split us up into groups—each group will have a specific job. Any questions?” No one responded. “Good.”
Garner went about giving everyone their jobs. Once he was finished, we walked over to where Lee sat.
“That went well,” he said.
Lee chuckled. “You think? I’m still getting looks.”
“Give it time. They don’t know you. This crew has been through a lot. Once they discover for themselves that you’re really on their side, it’ll be fine.”
“If you say so,” Lee said, not completely convinced. “So, what do you want me to do?”
“We need to come up with a rescue plan—one that won’t get everyone killed and might actually rescue some of our people.”
Lee paced the cave nervously, every few minutes stopping when hit with a coughing fit. After three weeks, he had pretty much been accepted by what was left of Pegasus’ crew; even those who still wouldn’t talk to him at least acknowledged him with a nod or salute.
The first thing Lee and Garner had worked on was planning a rescue operation. They ran numerous practice runs to ensure that everything went smoothly. Only one thing went awry—a week ago, Lee had gotten sick. At first he thought it was nothing more than a bad cold, but now he wasn’t so sure. He had been running a fever for the last few days, and his cough had gotten worse. He was originally supposed to lead this latest mission, but Garner overruled him and went instead. Now Lee had to stand by and wait to see if their plan worked. He hated having to sit this one out. After being inactive for so long, he was really looking forward to actually doing something.
Winter had come with a vengeance. Snow covered the mountains and had even fallen in the lower lying areas. One of the men reported that the remains of Pegasus were covered in white, which meant that if by some chance Galactica arrived and scouted the planet from the air, they wouldn’t be able to see the once massive battlestar. They had managed to store up enough food to last them a couple of months. Lee hoped that the winter weather didn’t get much worse; otherwise they’d have to worry more about hypothermia than Cylons or starvation. They had, unfortunately, run out of antibiotics a few weeks ago, and they were almost out of pain medication.
Lee stopped to cough again, doubling over. As he straightened, he heard someone entering the cave.
“Sir?” came the concerned voice.
Lee turned. “Hoshi—you’re back. How’d it go?”
Hoshi looked around, not quite meeting Lee’s eyes. “We, uh, managed to rescue twenty of the prisoners. The medics took them to the other cave. They were beaten, starved, said the Cylons questioned them about the location of the fleet.”
Lee laughed, which turned into another coughing spell. Hoshi reached out his hand and placed it on Lee’s shoulder.
“You okay, sir?”
“I’m fine.” He coughed a couple more times. “So, they want to know where the fleet is, huh? Like we’d still be on this frakking planet if we knew that.” Lee looked around. “Where’s Garner?”
Hoshi shuffled his feet. “He, uh, well, it’s like this. We started coming under fire. One of the men who used to work in the engine room with Garner was having a hard time keeping up. Garner went back to help him—he refused to leave him behind. He told us to go on ahead—ordered it. Once out of the compound, I turned back to check on him. The Cylons had caught up with them. They captured Garner.”
Lee felt like he’d been hit by a brick. “Frak me,“ he muttered, running his hand through his hair. He saw the question in Hoshi’s eyes. “It’s not your fault—don’t go blaming yourself. He knew the risks.”
“We can’t leave him there, sir.”
“I know. We won’t. Can any of the other prisoners help us? Give us some info about the prison? Secret entrances, that sort of thing?”
Hoshi shrugged. “I’m not sure. They’re pretty banged up.”
“Okay. Have one of the medics come by and see me once they’re finished.” He stepped in front of Hoshi, placing his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll get him out.”
Chapter 5
Adama stared at the report in his hands, then back at the
Tigh and
“Yes, sir,”
“Which means,” Tigh added, “there might be water…and food.”
Adama nodded as he continued reading the report. “What about Cylons?”
“Well, our scanners haven’t detected anything,”
“But that doesn’t mean they’re not there,” Tigh said.
Adama looked up at him, creasing his eyebrows in question.
“Which the Cylons could be hiding behind,”Adama finished.
“Yes, sir,”
“Have you scanned the entire planet?”
“Yes, sir,”
“So if we go, we have to go here,” Adama stated.
“What do you want to do?” Tigh eventually asked.
Adama sighed. “We haven’t found a planet since Kobol. We could use the extra water, and the potential for food is…the benefits may just outweigh the risks. I want both of you to meet with Starbuck and plan a scouting mission. We’ll meet same time tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir,” both men saluted and left.
Adama sat back down at his desk and reread the report. Something told him that no matter what, they needed to explore this planet.
“So, we take in five raptors and land here,” Kara said, pointing to a spot on the scan of the planet.
“You won’t be able to contact us from the planet,”
Kara nodded. “One crew will stay with its raptor, ready to move at the first sign of trouble, get back here and radio for help. The rest of us will look around, see if we can find anything useful.”
“You have three days, Captain,” Tigh said. “Cottle doesn’t recommend more than that if it’s as cold as our scans have indicated.”
“Have you chosen your teams?” Adama asked.
“Yes, sir. They’re actually looking forward to getting off the ship,” she said with a slight chuckle. “Hot Dog will be in charge while I’m gone.”
Adama met the eyes of everyone in the room. “The mission’s a go, then.” He looked at Kara. “Get your teams ready.”
Kara was in the hangar bay helping to load the raptors when Adama showed up.
“Starbuck, a word with you,” he said, calling her over.
Kara walked over to him, her stomach a swarm of butterflies. He hadn’t said much to her since that day she admitted she thought Lee was dead. “Sir,” she said.
Adama looked at her. “I just wanted to…look, Kara, just be careful out there, okay?”
Kara looked at him closely. “Is something wrong?”
“It’s just…I have a feeling about this.”
“A feeling?”
“I don’t know how to explain it…look, I know we haven’t seen a lot of each other lately. That’s my fault. I learned when Lee…disappeared, that I need to say what I feel just in case something happens. You’re family to me, Kara. Be careful and come home.”
Kara bit her lip and nodded, not able to say anything. She hugged Adama, grateful when he returned the motion. As she pulled away, she saluted and went back to her work.
Helo looked out the window and whistled. “I can’t remember the last time I saw so much snow.”
“Looks cold,” Racetrack muttered.
The raptor shook as it got closer to the surface of the planet. “Hang on,” Racetrack said. “It might be a little rough.”
The raptors set down in a clearing. Kara ordered one crew to stay with the raptors as she set out with the others to explore the area.
“Man, it’s freezing out here,” Helo commented.
“I thought you were excited about the white stuff,” Kara replied jokingly.
“I guess I forgot just how cold it had to be for it to snow.”
The group consisted of twelve people—Kara, Helo, and ten Marines. The wind was harsh, and it had started to flurry. They split up into groups of two to scout out an open field. Helo’s back was to Kara, and she had an urge she hadn’t felt since she was a child. She smiled slyly to herself, then slowly—so as not to alert Helo to her plan—made a snow ball.
“Hey, Helo!” she called out.
Just as he turned around, she launched the snow ball at him, hitting him square in the face.
“Oh, this is war,” Helo said, as the two of them began a snow ball fight. They began chasing each other, as the others looked on in amusement.
Helo yelled out a curse as he tumbled head over heels.
“You okay?” Kara asked out of breath.
Helo was rubbing his shin. “I think so. I tripped over something hard.”
Kara looked at him quizzically, then began looking around the area. “Maybe it was a tree stump or something.”
By this time, the rest of their group came up, and one of the Marines was helping Helo to his feet.
“I don’t think so,” Helo responded. “It felt almost like…metal.”
Another Marine started stomping around then stopped when his foot came into contact with something. “Hey guys,” he said, “something is over here.”
As the group came over, Helo’s eyes grew wide.
“Starbuck,” he said, “are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
They were staring at what appeared to be a huge piece of metal, but what got all of their attention was what was written on the metal—“P E G.”
“Oh my gods,” Kara whispered out.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the letters. Helo and the Marines went about digging through the rest of the area, uncovering more chunks of metal and the occasional skeleton.
Helo walked up to Kara, who still hadn’t moved. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. “I think we found out what happened to them.”
Kara bit her lip. “We need to contact Galactica, get a search team down here.”
“A search team? Why?”
Kara turned to face him. “To look for survivors.”
“Gods Kara, a battlestar crashed onto a planet. What are the chances that anyone survived that? And then with this weather?”
Kara stood firm. “Contact Racetrack. Tell her to get to Galactica and let them know what we found.”
“Shouldn’t you be the one who tells the Old Man?”
Kara felt the first sting of tears, but refused to give in to her emotions. “No, I need to keep up the search.”
Helo nodded. “Okay. Where do you want to look first?”
Kara looked around. “There,” she said, pointing up. “If it were me, I’d head to the mountains. Rougher terrain, probably caves for shelter.”
As Helo left, Kara stood rooted to her spot. She couldn’t keep her eyes off the wreckage. A few minutes later, he returned.
“Well?” Kara asked.
“I talked to Racetrack. She said the wind is picking up. It’s too dangerous to take off right now.”
“Frak me,” Kara said, running her hand over her face. “Tell her to take off as soon as the weather clears.”
Helo smiled. “I did.”
“Of course you did. Okay, you ready?”
Helo called over to the rest of their group to let them know they were heading out. He turned back to Kara. “Do you think he’s still alive?”
Kara sighed. Was there a chance? After seeing what remained of the once massive battlestar, Kara found it difficult to believe that anyone survived. But this was Lee “Apollo” Adama. “I don’t know,” she finally answered. “But if anyone can, he can. Let’s go.”
After an hour, they reached the base of the mountains.
“What the…” Helo said, walking towards the sight that got his attention.
“What is it?” Kara asked, following his line of sight.
“Footprints.”
Suddenly, the sound of guns clicking was heard, followed by a voice. “Drop your weapons.”
Kara turned slowly to the voice and stared. “Hoshi?”
Hoshi lowered his weapon at his name. He walked towards the group. “Starbuck? Oh my gods—it’s okay guys! It’s Starbuck!”
He ran to her and pulled her into a hug.
“Okay, okay,” she said, pulling away. She looked around at the men that came out behind him, her eyes wide. “You’re alive,” she stated.
“You have no idea how long we’ve all been praying for you to find us.”
“How long have you been here?” Helo asked.
“Three months. We were hit when we jumped. We ended up in the atmosphere and couldn’t control the ship.”
“Are there more of you?” Kara asked, hoping with all her heart that Lee had survived, but scared to ask.
“Yes, but not many. We started out with almost three-hundred, and between the Cylons and injuries…”
“Did you say, Cylons?” Helo asked.
“Yeah. Speaking of which, we need to get a move on. They don’t generally come out in this weather, but you never know.”
As they walked, Hoshi filled them in. “There’s a Cylon prison here. It looks like it’s fairly new. I don’t think they were expecting us. They’ve been questioning the prisoners about the location of the fleet. We’ve been making raids to rescue our own since we got here.”
“How many are left?” Helo said.
Hoshi looked at him sadly. “Well, between those captured, those killed on rescue attempts, and injuries, we’re down to about a hundred.”
“Admiral Cain?” Kara asked.
Hoshi’s eyes darkened. “She’s dead.”
“So, who’s in charge?”
“Well, it was Major Garner, but he was captured on the last raid. In fact, right now we’re working on a plan to get him and the others out.”
“Looks like we came just in time,” Helo commented.
“You never answered my question,” Kara said. “Who’s in charge?”
“Apollo.”
Kara stopped. “Lee’s…he’s alive?”
Hoshi nodded. “You do have medical supplies with you, right?”
Kara didn’t hear Hoshi. She was busy trying to wrap her mind around the fact that not only was Lee alive, but he was in charge. Helo gave her a gentle nudge, then answered.
“We have a little. You know, the basic pain relief, bandages.”
“Antibiotics?”
“No,” Kara answered. “Not with us. There are some back at the raptors. Why?”
Hoshi sighed. “Apollo—he won’t admit it, but he’s sick, and he’s getting worse everyday.”
Kara felt her stomach flip. She swallowed before speaking. “What’s wrong with him?”
At that point, they reached the entrance to the cave, and she heard for herself what was wrong. A wet, harsh cough came from inside.
Hoshi entered first. “Sir, you’re not going to believe this.”
“Believe what?” Lee asked. He was in no mood for games. For the last week, he’d been working on different plans to get Garner and the others out. He was cold, his head and chest hurt, and he was tired. The coughing kept him up at night, and it was getting harder to breath.
He gave Hoshi the best glare he could muster, but before he could say anything else, the most wonderful sound he had heard in a long time rang out.
“Love what you’ve done to the place, Adama.”
Chapter 6
For a moment, Lee thought he had lost his mind. He shook his head, not quite believing what he was seeing.
Kara watched him. He was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a while, even if he looked like death warmed over. She went and stood in front of him. Grinning from ear to ear, she spoke. “Not happy to see me?”
Lee stared back, his throat tightening up. If Kara was here, that meant the fleet was nearby, and maybe they could all finally go home. Before he could answer her, she pulled him into a warm embrace. He held on tight, afraid to let go, afraid it was all a dream.
They stood like that for minutes, neither one willing to let go. Helo coughed. “I know it’s a happy reunion and all, but…”
Kara pulled back first, laughing slightly. “But we have a job to do. I hear you’re planning an op,” she said, eyebrows raised.
Lee smiled and nodded, then proceeded to fill her in on what he knew about the prison.
After he had finished, she smiled. “It’s a good plan. How many men are you sending?”
“As many as can go. We have a few injured, and those we rescued, who can’t go. But the rest of us…” Lee had to stop speaking as another coughing fit hit him. He leaned over, hand on his knees, as his chest was wracked with pain. Kara rubbed his back for comfort. She wasn’t a doctor, but she knew that cough wasn’t normal. She could see clearly on his face that he was hurting with the action. Hoshi shoved a cup of water into her hand, and after a few minutes, the fit passed and Lee took the water.
The rest of the group moved away to get dinner ready, leaving Lee and Kara alone.
Kara helped him sit, then motioned for Hoshi to get him more water.
Lee leaned his head back against the cave wall and shut his eyes. “Frak, that hurts.”
“Looks like it,” Kara agreed. “Um, you’re not planning on going on this mission, are you?”
Lee’s eyes flew open. “Yes, I am going,” he stated firmly.
“Lee, have you listened to yourself? More importantly, have you looked at yourself? You look like hell.”
“Thanks,” he said wryly.
“I think you need to stay here.”
Lee’s face turned hard. “It’s not up to you. I’m in charge here. I’m going.”
“You’re sick.”
“Kara, I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse.”
She seriously doubted that, but she could tell from the tone of his voice that he wouldn’t back down. She decided to change the subject.
“You know, your father never gave up hope that you were still alive.”
Lee felt a pang in his heart for what his father must have been through. “How is he?” he asked softly.
“As well as can be expected. But once he sees you, I’m sure he’ll be much better.”
Lee nodded and wiped his face. Kara instantly noticed the healing bruises on his wrists.
“Good lords, Lee, what happened?”
Lee looked at his arm. “I was a prisoner, remember?”
Kara just stared at him. “For how long?”
Lee sat silent, and for a moment she thought he hadn’t heard her. “Long enough,” he whispered.
They were interrupted by Helo bringing them dinner. Kara caught Lee up on all the pilot gossip he had missed. She kept a close eye on him, her worry creeping up a notch every time he had a coughing spell.
Once dinner was finished, they resumed their planning. Kara informed them that once the weather cleared, Racetrack would go get reinforcements.
“How long will that take?” Lee asked.
“Not long, once she’s able to get back.”
“We can’t wait forever,” he said. He thought it over. “We go tomorrow evening.”
“What?” Kara asked. “Lee, that’s crazy. We should wait until Galactica is able to send more…”
“Those men don’t have that kind of time,” Lee snapped. “Who knows what’s already been done to them. We go tomorrow night, period. Now, I suggest we all get some rest.”
Kara stared at Lee. What had gotten in to him? The Lee she knew would never just go head first into a battle knowing back-up was coming. He was acting more like her, and it was scaring her. She decided not to push—he was feeling lousy, after all.
“What’s your watch schedule?” she asked.
“Four men on two hour intervals.”
“Okay, we have twelve with us. And since we’re in better shape than you guys, we’ll cover the shift tonight.”
“That isn’t necessary,” Lee responded.
Kara looked at him. “Lee, all of you need to rest. Let us do it.”
He finally relented, and Kara and her group set up their watch times.
One by one, the Pegasus crew headed to bed, all thankful that for one night they didn’t have to worry. For one night, they were being taken care of.
Kara took first shift and watched as Lee drifted off to sleep. She noticed that once he was completely out, his hands almost instinctively came together, almost like they were bound. She thought about the markings on his wrists. What had happened to him? Had he been a Cylon prisoner?
“It was Admiral Cain,” the voice said softly.
She turned to see Hoshi standing behind her, watching Lee.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Hoshi looked at her sadly. “You know she put him in the brig?”
“Yes,” she said quietly. She still felt guilty. She got rewarded for her part in the plan, but Lee got punished.
Hoshi sighed. “She didn’t trust him. She wasn’t nice to him; in fact, she was pretty horrible to him. She kept him in handcuffs, wouldn’t let him do anything, she wouldn’t let the medics treat him, withheld food from him…”
Hoshi got silent for a moment, and Kara wondered if she should ask him to continue. Before she had the chance, he went on and told her about all of Cain’s rescue attempts, how when Lee tried to give her ideas she would ignore him.
“The only person brave enough to help him was Major Garner.”
With that one sentence, it all fell in place for Kara. No wonder Lee was so adamant about the rescue mission.
“I’m just glad you guys showed up when you did,” he said, then left.
Kara focused her attention back on Lee’s sleeping form. She knew there was more to the story, but now wasn’t really the time. She felt her heart break for what Lee had been through. Watching him sleep like that, she knew her job the next night wouldn’t only be to rescue those who had been captured. It would also be to watch over her friend and get him home safely—for him, for his father, for herself.
The survivors packed up their things as they prepared to leave. Kara had ordered four of the Marines to accompany those who were sick and injured back to the raptors, hoping that Racetrack had already been able to contact Galactica. She had fought with Lee all morning to go to the raptors, but he adamantly refused. He wouldn’t say more than that, but based on what Hoshi had told her the night before, she had an inkling as to why he wouldn’t leave.
The plan was simple enough—they had two groups of ten men each, one group to assault the prison from the front, the other from the rear. Their job was to engage the Cylons in battle and try to lead them away from the prisoners. Then there was another group that would actually enter the prison to search for their comrades. Lee was a part of this group, and, as a result, so was Kara.
As they were getting ready to leave, Lee stopped them. Kara watched as the remaining crew of Pegasus looked at Lee with respect in their eyes. **Leave it to Lee** she mused to herself. Out of all the people she knew, he was the only one who could be a prisoner one day and the next not only lead but have the respect of those who had held him prisoner.
Lee coughed, and Kara noticed the pain flash across his face. He had no business going on this mission. Stubbornness was obviously an Adama trait.
“This is it. You have all fought hard, and it’s been my honor to fight alongside you. Hopefully, if all goes well, we’ll be on our way home by the end of the day. Good luck and be careful out there.” He glanced at Kara, and seeing her smirk he added, “Good hunting.”
She walked over to him as the group left the caves. “Are you sure you’re up to this?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” he said.
Kara nodded. “So, um, Hoshi told me some things…”
“What kind of things?”
She took a deep breath. “He said that Cain was…that she wasn’t very nice to you.”
Lee snorted, but said nothing.
Kara trudged on. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Lee, I know it must have been hard for you here…”
Lee stopped and pulled her aside. “You don’t know anything about what went on here. I don’t want to talk about it, just like you didn’t want to talk about what happened on Caprica. I respected your wishes. Please respect mine.”
Lee held her gaze. Kara stared right back. She could get lost in his blue eyes. She shook her head—now was not the time to be thinking about that.
“Okay, fair enough,” she said softly. “But if you change your mind…”
Lee didn’t reply as another coughing fit overtook him. Kara held onto his arm—just to let him know she was there—until the fit had passed. She opened up his canteen and urged him to drink.
“Thanks,” he murmured.
She cupped his cheek with her hand. “Frak, Lee , you’re burning up.”
He stood up a little straighter. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You shouldn’t be here. You should be on your way back to the raptors.”
“I’m where I should be. I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”
Helo approached Kara just as Lee left her side. “How is he?” he asked.
“Sick,” Kara said, shaking her head. “Let’s get this done and get off this frakking planet. He needs to be in life station yesterday.”
The crew split into their respective groups. Lee waited until he heard the distinct sounds of battle, then motioned for his team to make their move. Kara made sure that she stayed right behind Lee. She hadn’t been able to watch his back on Pegasus, and she was going to make sure that didn’t happen again.
The men went separate ways to search for the others, with Lee and Kara heading down a hallway to the left of where they had entered. One of the men they had rescued had given them a basic layout of the prison and where he had been held, so those areas were checked first. One by one, they opened the doors that lined the hallway only to find empty rooms. As they got to the seventh door, Lee was starting to lose hope. He threw the door opened, and his eyes grew wide in horror.
“Garner,” he hissed as he went to the man.
Garner was slumped against the wall, both eyes swollen shut, his body bruised and bloody.
Kara grimaced at the sight. The man was in bad shape.
Lee grabbed Garner’s wrist and felt for a pulse. “Garner—can you hear me?”
Kara stood in the doorway, keeping her eyes out for any Cylons.
Garner moaned and turned his head to the voice. “Lee?” he rasped out.
“Yeah, it’s me. We’re getting you out of here.”
Garner pulled his arm out of Lee’s grasp. “No,” he coughed out.
“Yes. Look, Galactica is here. We’re going home.”
Garner reached out weakly and gripped Lee’s arm. “You’re going home. Your father will be so relieved.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” Lee said, almost desperately.
Garner laughed despite his pain. “And how are you going to get me out of here? This is it, kid. I’m done for. It’s okay, really.”
“No,” Lee said, as tears filled his eyes.
Kara heard the conversation between the two men. Hoshi had said that Garner was the only one who helped Lee. This was going to hit her friend hard. Suddenly, she heard the echo of the Centurions. She went to Lee. “The Cylons are on their way,” she whispered.
Lee shook his head. He reached out to try and pull the other man up. Garner refused the help.
“No, you get out of here. Go back to Galactica, get to Earth.”
“I…” Lee swallowed back the emotions.
“It’s okay. I know. Here,” he said, taking the watch out of his pocket. “Take this.”
Lee shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. I won’t need it where I’m going. I always wanted to pass it to my son, but never got the chance.” He smiled. “Please.”
Lee reluctantly took the watch. He placed his hand on the older man’s shoulder and squeezed. He was unable to say the words—he hoped that one action was enough to get across all he felt.
“Go,” Garner’s voice was barely a whisper. “Go home.”
“Lee, we’ve gotta go,” Kara called from the doorway.
Lee took one last look at the man who had taken care of him—befriended him—and left.
They took off in the way they came. Bullets flew by as the Centurions caught up to them.
“Frak!” Kara hissed as they ran behind a wall and began firing back.
Lee could feel his strength starting to fade. It was getting more difficult to breath, and all the running was only making it worse.
Kara saw the look on his face and knew they needed to get out of there. She pulled a grenade from her belt and launched it at the machines, then urged Lee forward. They took off running again and were almost at the gate when another Cylon—this time a Doral model—came from around a corner and started firing on them. Lee went down.
“No!” Kara yelled, firing at Doral. She managed to hit him in the head. She ran up to Lee and turned him over. “Frak Lee,” she said.
“Tell me about it,” he groaned as he held his hand to a wound in his thigh.
She quickly got out a pressure bandage and began wrapping the wound.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” he said through gritted teeth.
“No kidding,” she responded sarcastically. “Can you walk?”
Lee closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then nodded. “Just get me home.”
The sound of his voice nearly broke her heart. He was fading fast. Between the bullet wound and illness, his body was about to shut down. Kara hauled him roughly to his feet and practically dragged him out of the prison.
Helo saw the two and immediately went to help. He put Lee’s other arm around his neck, and together the two carried Lee away from the battle.
To Kara, it seemed that no matter how far they ran, it wasn’t far enough.
“They’re frakking chasing us!” she yelled.
Suddenly, explosions started going off behind them. Within a few minutes, the planet was eerily quiet. They stopped and turned back just in time to see a Viper swoop in low and drop another bomb on the Cylons.
“Woo-hoo!” Helo yelled, grinning from ear to ear.
Kara smiled to herself, but before she could rejoice with Helo, she felt Lee go limp.
“Oh no you don’t Apollo,” she said, as she and Helo slowly lowered him to the ground. She pulled his head into her lap, not wanting him to lie on the cold snow. She lightly patted his cheek. “Come on, Lee,” she said to him.
No response.
She looked over at Helo, who read her command in her face. “I’ll contact Racetrack.”
Kara nodded her thanks and pulled Lee closer to her to keep him warm. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “Just a little longer and you’ll be home.” She gently kissed him on his head and watched as a med team approached them.