In the Whole World: Chapter 4, "Wireless"
"Wireless”
Chapter 4/13
Word Count: 2,645
"Shit! Get down get down get down. They're coming!"
Olivia Valerii-as she'd decided to call herself once she needed a name-followed orders and got down as a spray of bullets ripped into the hull of the Argo Navis over her head. This was one of the last three ships to be seized by Lee Adama's order, and one of only a handful to put up any resistance. She was glad to be on it; glad to be seeing some action.
Olivia was one of the many Eights who had eagerly joined up as soon as Saul and Ellen Tigh had issued a call for a Cylon militia. The Tighs wanted to ensure they had a defense against the increasingly violent anti-Cylon faction of the humans. Olivia hadn't had any altercations with humans-well, nothing too bad-but she also hadn't even had to think about whether to enlist. She had felt like a soldier almost since she'd first stepped out of a birth basin, what with Sharon Agathon and Sharon Valerii's memories swimming around in her skull.
Those memories might be what was spooking her just now, though. In both cases, the memories cut off abruptly with gunfire.
"Frak!" The commentary was from Sharon Agathon herself as she shepherded them into Argo Navis's state room. Athena was commanding this unit, made up of three Twos and two Sixes with Olivia as the only other Eight. That was by Athena's orders. Olivia got it: Eights were verboten, thanks to Boomer's legacy. Athena'd built her whole life, her family and her sense of self, around keeping her distance from the rest of them.
And she probably thinks she's the only one who feels that way.
"OK. Intel says nine humans, including Captain Markson, maintaining defensive positions. Remember that we're here only to neutralize the threat of deadly force from civilian resisters-preferably through peaceful means." She left unsaid that it was only a preference, not an order. "Twos, you're on: sweep the engine room and disable the FTL drive. Control of the tylium reserve is paramount."
"Roger that," a particularly grim Two who Olivia had frakked a few times after they'd first joined the humans-Cal Connolly, that was his name, his eyes looked something like Karl Agathon's if you squinted-set off down the hall, the other Twos hot on his heels.
"Isis," Athena turned to one the Sixes, "rendezvous with the guards at the entrance to set up a sentry here, and then the two of you," she nodded at the other Six, "will scout for other ways into this place that aren't on the registered blueprints."
Sixes. They understood revolutionary tactics, didn't waste time with questions, and only fluidly moved to complete their business. Terrifying. Olivia considered Isis a friend-well, a friendly acquaintance-but as a rule, she avoided Sixes like nothing else. They weren't the reason her heart was pounding just now, though.
"And me?" she asked Athena breathlessly. She'd never been alone with this woman before-this woman whose life played in Olivia's imagination like favorite scenes from a novel she'd read a hundred times.
"You and I," Sharon Agathon's mouth was purposeful, "are storming the flight deck."
xxx
"Starbuck. Damage report," Helo snapped at Kara as she entered the CIC. He was running on nerves, the combination of a mission he didn't support and his wife's dangerous role in carrying it out a half mile away from him.
"Those two civilian casualties aboard the Calliope are confirmed. That's four total. We have Captain Trebol in custody aboard the Astral Queen. She's demanding an attorney." Starbuck's tone said plainly that she thought Eliot Trebol should have thought of her legal situation before she opened fire on the colonial military. "Seelix's team has taken control of the Kodiak. Their FTL drives were fully spooled. She shut 'em down about ten seconds before they would have jumped."
"So only two." The Greenleaf and the Hitei Kan had surged into the air and jumped almost as soon as the coordinate strike had begun, but the lack of warning meant that they had jumped with only perhaps ninety people aboard both ships-albeit with a full eighth of the fleet's tylium.
Wherever they'd gone, they were off-planet. But Helo and Starbuck both understood they'd be back shortly. The draw of New Earth would be too strong for them to resist.
And when they returned, phase two of Lee's plan would begin.
"Only two. And only one ship still in revolt-waiting for Athena to report from the Argo Navis. Perimeter reports say her team has commenced operations inside. All other ships are locked down, with engine and FTL capacity disabled." Kara risked a glance across the table at Lee, who'd been listening the whole time; he'd broken off his intent conversation with four members of the Captain's Quorum who'd aided in the planning as she'd walked in.
"Good work, Starbuck," he said briefly, before turning back to the captains and their quiet, urgent murmurs.
"Aye aye, Commander," she muttered, ignoring Helo's scowl at the reminder of Apollo's having pulled rank so effectively.
She didn't, however, ignore his gaze fixed on the DRADIS. At Kara's suggestion, they'd jammed the regular wireless channels, so that only ship-to-ship communication was functional. Consequently, each of the unit commanders had been equipped with a tracking device so they could send off alarm signals during ops and be locatable in event of emergency.
Minute movements within a ship weren't visible on it, though. Sharon's light hadn't moved in hours.
"She'll be OK."
"I know."
"We need her to rendezvous with the Cylon militia-to make sure they don't turn on us-"
"I know."
"I'm just saying, the fact that she's with other Cylons-"
"That's your fear talking, not mine, Starbuck." Helo's fist came down harder than he intended on the command position table. "I've trusted her loyalty from the beginning. I'm worried about the humans on Argo Navis. I'm worried for her life."
"Gods, I get it. You didn't follow me. I meant-her team. You don't have to be worried about the other Cylons. They're with us, now. They'll treat her right." Kara thought of a doodle she'd pressed into Athena's hands this morning-a whimsical little thing that had made free use of a dozen or more toasters-and grinned. Athena was unlikely to have found that drawing particularly funny. But Kara was starting to feel downright affectionate toward the toasters among the fleet. Because they're like me. They don't belong, but they keep fighting.
"I hope so." He cast her a sidelong glance. "Apollo didn't handle your absence that well."
The smile was wiped off her face. "That's none of your business."
"Yeah. That's what I thought. But then we got the reports of gunshots aboard the Calliope. And then he went cold and gave me the job of keeping the entire CIC silent until you wired in with a sitrep. So you could say the commander sort of made it my business."
Kara flicked her eyes back to the commander-president, saw what she'd already felt, that he was watching her. He didn't look away, just kept talking quietly, gesturing to the captains. She picked up snatches of what he was saying. "…otherwise will have to announce it as a…just guessing at the electoral consequences…"
Not about her, then.
"This isn't something you can fix, Helo. Leave it alone."
"Don't give me that crap. We've known each other too long." Helo took his eyes off the DRADIS long enough to look at her reproachfully. "I was also the one to sign the requisition order for that bed he had delivered to your tent three days ago, Kara," Helo was intent now, "and I know it's the same old story. I can see it on your face. You're terrified. He stirs up every frakked-up feeling you've ever had. Every time he comes around, it's some other reckless stunt from you. So I need you to promise me that this time, you won't do something crazy just 'cause Apollo's screwing up your steady."
"I'm already married. I already died, for that matter. Not a lot of wiggle room left for crazy." Kara deliberately kept her tone flippant. Helo just shook his head at her.
"Speaking of your marriage…you sure it's a good idea to be shacking up with the prez?"
"We aren't…"
His brow shot up. "Is it the politics, then? Because I gotta tell you…"
"The what?"
"Shit. You seriously haven't done the math, have you?" Karl was flustered. He looked down at the landing site map spread out on the table in front of him for a long moment, debated how much to tell her, decided all. "Here's what they're saying, Starbuck: Kara Thrace, Savior of Humanity, shacked up with the young president to shore up his shaky administration, so that opposing Apollo means opposing salvation. Or else: the gods have chosen Lee Adama's presidency, which you can tell because our angel, Kara Thrace, has cast her lot with his. Or Lee Adama is callously using said angel to hold onto his own power. Or…."
"I get it." Kara's face really was terrified, now. "Idiots. They really think it's a strategy."
"His, yours, or the gods'. The Gemenese and the Twos, in particular, seem fond of the story. Yeah."
"And it really… I mean, do you think it's really helping Lee?"
He just laughed. "Always would've thought you'd make a terrible political wife, Starbuck."
Kara had never been able to tame her chuckles when she was the most terrified, and now was not an exception. Gods, me, a political…. At the word "wife," her grin faded again. "It's for me, Helo. That's he's staying with me, I mean. It's not for him. And you don't have to worry. "
Seeing her troubled expression, Lee broke away from the captain's huddle, ignoring the irritated gesture of Hylene Fauvre. He put a hand on Kara's arm without seeming to notice doing it. "What's the sitrep on the Argo Navis?"
"No news there. But Lee," Kara's eyes were mocking as she looked up at him, "how do you respond to reports that you're using me to further your political career?"
Lee raised a brow toward Helo. "So you finally heard," he murmured. "Don't worry, the only thing useful about you is your gift for strategy. I still can't believe that move with the parachuters worked… I swear, you were born under some kind of crackpot star-"
"DRADIS contact!" Hoshi's voice broke in. "One of the panic alarms… Point-four clicks south-southwest." He ran his eyes over the scanner reports, found the code, spoke Karl Agathon's worst fears. "It's Athena."
When Helo broke out of the CIC at a run, neither Kara nor Lee tried to stop him.
xxx
Olivia's ears were ringing. Where had the gunshots come from? Who was hit?
As Olivia saw Sharon Agathon hit the ground, red fluid-blood, we call it blood, now-spilling out of her left side, she didn't pause to think, only reacted. Spinning in the direction of the shot, she pulled her gun straight out from her shoulder, with deadly steadiness, straight at the shocked Captain Simpson Markson's face.
And she fired.
She didn't need to check his pulse to see he was dead. She ran to the control panel, having already scanned the ship's mechanical systems into her memory in ops prep, and slammed the button she knew would shut and lock the flight deck doors.
Wireless. Need to wire for help. She glanced around quickly, finding that the set had been dislodged from the location assigned it in the blueprints. "Shit. I don't have time for this. Where the frak is it?"
"Olivia."
"Hang on, Sharon. Just hang on." Olivia was dropping to her knees beside Athena even as her eyes were frantically scanning the room for comm links. Why, why, did we scramble all the handhelds? This thing clipped to my belt is frakking useless.
She finally let herself look down at her fellow Eight, on the ground. "Oh, frak."
She went back to searching for the link.
Athena's face had already gone pale, and so had her hands. She was losing-losing blood fast. "Get me a compress. Olivia! Now." She bit out of the words, and Olivia could hear her strain. It made her heart clench with pity.
Olivia sighed. "We both know there's no point, Sharon."
"Get it now."
"You've already lost," Olivia let her eyes scan, and then, as they were built to do, measure, "just under two liters of blood. Even if I start stanching now… statistically speaking, you've got less than a .5% chance of survival. Looking for a comm device so I can call for backup before I get attacked is a better use of my time."
"Olivia! This is not a suggestion! It's a command!" Athena was hoarsely choking, her voice barely above a whisper. It was taking Athena everything she had left to muster the words.
"SOPs say that a wound that impairs cognitive function is grounds for suspension of rank. And given the loss of blood to your brain…" She was patting down Markson, now, felt a bulge against his chest. Aha. "Found it!"
"Olivia. You're not… a… toaster. Please."
Olivia watched as Athena's eyes began to flutter closed, and then was struck by a horrible idea. Can this really be so easy? Am I dreaming? Have I dreamed it before? "No. I'm not."
She lifted the dog tags off of her own neck, knelt beside Athena, and swiftly, methodically, switched them with hers. Why does it feel like I've done this before? Feel strangely… right?
Athena was still, now, on the ground, forever beyond words. Olivia spoke them, anyway. "May God's rest find you," she whispered.
She then noted the scar on Athena's wrist-must have plugged herself into one of these herself, at one point-and pulled out her belt knife, slicing a hole into her left arm and shoving the comm link into it. Saves on tylium use, anyway, she thought.
For the moment, she looked away from Sharon Agathon's corpse, afraid it would break her will to carry on.
"Galactica," Olivia spoke into the comm calmly, felt it pulsing in her veins, in her blood, suddenly her very real, very human-feelingblood, "this is Athena. We have control of the Argo Navis." She paused, heard cheering erupting in the Galactica CIC, let it wash over her. I'm the hero, now. I'm the most human one of us. She dared a glance back at Athena, at her chalky face, at the red puddle that had poured from her. "Affirmative. I have to report two casualties…Yes, Captain Markson. And…" Her voice broke for the first time, and she swallowed hard. "And Olivia Valerii…"
She closed her eyes for a long moment and said another prayer of remembrance.
And then she stooped next to Athena, began feeling through her pockets. Ah-a little photo of Hera. My daughter. Her wedding band. Fits perfectly. A drawing of Sharon running into a ship with a chain of toasters tied to either wrist, a scribbled note on it reading "Good hunting, Athena. But don't forget you have to plug your team in first. -Starbuck."
That's not me anymore. Athena was right. I'm not a toaster.
"Roger that, Galactica. All clear for reinforcements."
She let all her memories-Sharon Agathon's memories-wash fully into her brain, stopped trying to hold them at bay, convince herself they weren't really hers.
In a last gesture of mourning for the woman she was about to become, she scanned the dimensions of the room swiftly, memorizing the particulars of this new, latter-day tomb of Athena.
A pounding began on the flight deck door she'd sealed, and she moved swiftly to the control panel to allow her husband inside.
[ Next chapter]