Flashbacks Of A Fool Chp 6
Chapter Six
Galen set the last charge, and she followed his shadow as he slowly made his way back to their hiding place. This was the third time they had set out together. He didn't mind hitting targets that weren't living. Laura would go as far as to say he was relieved to have his missions with her, but knew better than to voice it. It would do her no good to try and stir up anything that would countermand Saul's new creed. The amount of destruction she saw on her trips to the surface told her of the many soldiers and civilians who walked out on his command and never came back.
Galen's hand touched against her shoulder as he crouched next to her. “Ready?”
Her thumb brushed against the detonator in her hand. “Yes.”
“Hit the switch and lets go.”
The had cut their way through the chain link fence around the surface fueling station. It was something she had her eye on for a while, but they had to wait until the fuel wasn't actually pumping through the lines. Taking out the station was one thing, potentially blowing up half the shipyard when tyllium caught fire was another.
They had finally gotten word that the lines were shut down for maintenance. They had to throw together everything in record time to make it within the time frame.
Galen started moving immediately, but she paused a moment after hitting the switch, watching the first burst of light that signaled the charges had gone off. She dropped the detonator and crushed it under her boot as she ran after him, almost falling over when a secondary explosion rocked the ground.
Fuel wasn't supposed to be pumping through the lines.
Galen turned to look back at her, eyes wide with fear.
Apparently Cylons were much faster at completing repairs than they thought.
She saw the look in his eye that meant he had the same idea as her. Unfortunately for him, he was ahead of her, and all Laura had to do was tackle him before he could slow down. That he had still been moving was probably the only reason she had been able to knock him back. Her left arm was pinned beneath him and her slighter frame barely covered him, but at least he was down. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to roll them over, but another blast hit before he could shift them.
Heat and pain scalded her skin, and the air was forced from her lungs. The roar of the flames cut out to be replaced by a horrid ringing in her ears. When she could finally take in a breath her lungs screamed in pain, the taste of smoke on her tongue barely overpowered the taste of blood.
Galen's arms fell away from her body and whenever she tried to move black dots bloomed in the clouds of smoke. She managed to roll off his body and fall to his side, the world fading out for a moment before she was pulled back into consciousness choking on the blood in her mouth.
She wanted to call out to him, tell him to move, tell them they had to run, but the flood in her mouth stopped her, as did an obstruction against her teeth when her jaw feebly moved. Her head lolled to the side and something viscous fell from the corner of her lips. If the air hadn't been on fire it would have made it easier to breathe.
The angry red of the burning fuel colored their small patch of the world, but it didn't account for the red shadows slipping down his body. She tried to lift her head, to see what was on him.
A piece of shrapnel protruded from his throat.
She had to tell someone. She had to...
The thing against her teeth cut at her tongue, and she fumbled for it. Her fingers would not move, but she caught it between her thumb and forefinger, and it slid out of her cheek easily enough. It must have dropped from her hand, because she could not feel it when she pushed back against the wound. Her fingers sank into the bloody mess until her nails clicked against the enamel of her teeth.
She had to tell...
It was too dark. She couldn't think.
She was on fire. It was in her blood and in her bones.
Her mouth was stuffed with iron and cotton, and every moan scratched and fell back down her throat to her lungs. She coughed in place of screaming.
There was light, and it flickered, shuddering across her vision like an unsteady hand held it.
The world got hotter, but her chest grew colder no matter how fast her heart beat. It was difficult to understand, to think, there were shapes in the somewhere.
She had to tell... Cally? Someone. Something had happened. Something had brought her here.
The light came back, steady, unhindered and unusually bright. Then a heavy, warm cloud of darkness.
When wakefulness came she started to see through the haze. There was a room. There were walls in the tunnels.
Where was she?
-
48 days before the Occupation
“How are Maya and the kids?”
“Doing well. She's really taken to the whole school teacher business.”
Considerably better than Tory was taking it, going by her tone. Laura toyed with the cup in front of her, looking past her former aide and out across the bar. “I'm glad you decided to stay and help her.”
“Just doing my job, ma'am.”
“No, you're not.”
“We can disagree there.”
“Alright.” Laura took a sip of her drink, eyes on the door.
Kara walked into the bar, followed closely by Tigh in civilian dress. Laura tracked their progress from the bar to a table in the back. It was good to see some friendships going strong.
“Maya wants to know if you can stop by.”
“The school?”
“She wants you to come see her too, I think she misses the free nights you used to give her while watching Isis.”
“I miss having nights where I could sit at home and do that.”
“Really.”
She turned her eyes back to Tory, frowning. “Really?”
“I believe you're right where you want to be, ma'am.”
She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes.“Don't worry, you'll have a job there soon.”
“I don't mind the wait. As long as it's a good job.”
They shared a smile, finishing off their rounds. Tory stood, brushing the residual alcohol from her lips with her thumb.
“I'll be right back.”
“Bring another round.”
“Alright.”
Her seat wasn't vacant long.
“Hello Colonel. What are you doing down here?”
“Shore leave with Ellen.”
Laura raised her eyebrows, her only comment on the lack of his wife's presence in the bar. “It's good to see the Admiral still gives you time off.”
He grunted in response.
“Is there something you wanted?”
“As someone who risked court martial for you during the election, I think I deserve some of your time.”
She wrapped her hand around her empty cup, wishing it was full. “What do you want?”
“We've spoken before.”
“I hadn't noticed.”
“About Bill.”
She sat back in her chair, pulling in on herself and getting away from him.
“We talked about objectivity.”
Her eyes looked past his shoulder, where Kara was hunched over a drink, staring in their direction. “You already have my attention Colonel, will you get to the point?”
“Something happened last month.”
She hummed. “Coming to warn me about a coup?”
“What? No.” He frowned, shoulders hunching. “It was like that, was it?”
“If hasn't talked to you-”
“He says we're staying, and I thought everybody knew that.”
“Everyone except him.” She lifted her cup before she remembered it was empty.
“You got him to clear his head last time.” He leaned across the table towards her, hands stopped short of reaching her. “Talk to him.”
“As far as I know he isn't doing anything, the fleet was at stake last time. What do you expect me to say? Get used to it? You can do that on your own.”
“Just talk to him.” He pulled away from her and stood. “The last time the two of you had a heart to heart on Founder's Day, he didn't seem to mind the thought of settling.”
Laura looked away, staring down at the floor until she was sure he was gone. Tory appeared at the corner of her eye, and rather than retake her seat, she stayed at her side.
“Is everything alright? What did the Colonel want?”
“Everything's fine.”
-
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