Part: 67
Rating: PG, maybe PG-13 later
Pairing: A/R
Summary: The survivors of the Holocaust have finally reached Earth, but they find out that's not the end of their problems
Beta: Mariel
Note: I do want to thank Vi, Marta, Axelrajr, Moggie, Rap541, Becky, KaffeineKitty, and AlbertG for their expertise. Without their input this story would not be what it is today. Be warned, this takes place sometime near the end of season two. Anything after Epiphanies are conjectures from the author's warped mind. . .
Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and its characters are creations of Glen Larson and copywrited by Universal Studios. I make no money off of this.
Colonial speech: " "
English speech: ' '
Chapter Sixty-seven
It had been over a week since the attack and beating that landed Gaeta into the Terran's version of Life Station. The visiting officer spent most of the time asleep. He was at the point where, if the Cylons attacked again, he wouldn't really have cared. I still feel like crap, he bemoaned during one of his more awake moments.
Then there were the headaches.
The last time he'd hit his head was nothing like this time. The headaches seemed much worse this time. Not only that, but they were much more frequent. At this point, all he really wanted was for the headaches to go away.
At least the heaves had stopped when the medical personnel checked his eyes. That was the worst part. Every time they came after the heaves they would check the sutures to make sure that he didn't pull any stitches.
The lights? At least it was getting easier to handle as the days passed. To tell the truth, he had no idea how long it had been since he first woke up because of how much he had slept.
The pain he was still enduring wasn't worth being called a hero.
Time seemed to stretch as he lay there. As he slowly woke, up he noticed someone was resting his or her hand on his left hand. When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed almost immediately that the lighting in the room he was in had been dimmed. He could also tell that he was not on the Yorktown anymore. That could only mean he had been sent to the hospital ship that had been left in a staging area far behind the advancing Terran military ships in what was considered a semi-safe area.
He focused his eyes on his injured shoulder. Gaeta could barely move it, but that was to be expected. What he really wanted to know was who was in the room with him. All he could think of was that it might be a medical technician.
Gaeta swung his head drowsily to the other side. It took him a moment to realize that it was Angela's hand resting on his. What? She shouldn't be here. From what he remembered, she had managed to weather the boarding unscathed. As he moved his hand he wasn't surprised that it woke her up. He cleared his throat. It was difficult to speak, and when he finally found his voice, it came out no more than a whisper. "W-wha. . ." As something of a last resort he tried to ask once again, this time in English, 'What are you doing here?'
'You know how I told you that Thrace was furious at you?' she changed the subject while not quite looking at him. 'Major Adama informed me that he was the one she wanted to rescue off Caprica.'
It took a moment for Gaeta to gather his thoughts. He could actually remember her telling him this. 'I know.' He closed his eyes for a short break, though he could tell he was stronger than when he first woke up. 'You already told me that.' What's wrong with you? 'Angela, this is a hospital ship.'
She nodded even though she still wasn't quite looking at him.
With his good arm he managed to push himself up into more of a seated position. 'Why are you here if you're not injured?'
Surprisingly, she rubbed her face with her hands. Even though her voice was muffled, he could still understand her words, 'I didn't want or need this to happen now.'
Even though he had been sleeping most of the time since the attack, he found he still tired fairly quickly. either that or it was the medication the doctors were still giving him. 'What are you talking about?' he asked tiredly.
'I started getting sick before it was time for you to be sent back to the hospital ship. So, Dr. Baker wanted a complete checkup.' She paused before finally blurting out, 'I can't be in any combat roll anymore because. . .I'm pregnant.'
'How far?' was all he could think to say.
'You don't understand! I shouldn't be this way. I don't know what do to,' she bemoaned back into her hands.
Gaeta didn't even want to ask her about the contraceptives she should have been on. Something must have happened to it to make it malfunction. Added to the fact was that they had been quite active and enjoyed every minute of it.
"Ambassador Garcia, this is a surprise," Laura leaned back in her chair to give the Spaniard a critical look. She did not like being interrupted while in the middle of a report.
"Señora Roslin," Garcia nodded then took one of the seats available. Even though the official residence of the president was nearing completion, Roslin had chosen not to move her office there just yet. Added to the fact that her re-election campaign had shifted into high gear, she didn't want the added burden of putting out the political fires that Zarek was attempting to set.
"Good news?"
"It depends, Señora," he added with a flourish as he reached down for his briefcase. He remained quiet as he opened it up and handed over several sheets of paper. "Two of the alliances want to give out awards for uncommon valor to a couple of your officers."
"Really?" she asked as she thumbed through the oddly rectangular papers. I'll never get used to having four corners on a piece of paper. "I will have to discuss this with Admiral Adama before I can give you an answer." She put the paper down and pulled off her glasses. "Ambassador, is this a common occurrence?"
"More so now," he answered thoughtfully. "Though you can find instances of this dating back to World War I."
How long have they been fighting each other, was all she could think. She didn't dwell on it for long though, she had too much work to do, and not enough time in the day.
"I thank you for bringing this to my attention, Ambassador," Laura rose to her feet and offered her hand.
"Of course, Señora." Garcia bowed with a flourish then backed away with his briefcase. When she was alone once more she looked out the window to the quickly growing city in the distance. She was still on Colonial One, and would be there for some time. Sighing, she sat back down and looked at the letters from the different leaders of the two alliances. "Billy?" she called.
He poked his head through the door, "Yes, ma'am?" Billy asked as he approached her desk.
"Will you please inform Admiral Adama that I wish to speak to him?"
"Here?" Billy looked down to the papers she was looking over.
"Yes."
"Of course, ma'am," he nodded and went back to his desk to make the calls.
When Laura was alone once again, she looked out the window. Even after all this time, she still couldn't quite take it all in that they were finally settled in a place where they didn't have to look over their shoulders in fear of the Cylons.
"He'll be here in an hour," Billy reported to her once the calls had been made.
"Thank you," she answered then went back to the work that never seemed to get done.
"Laura?"
"What?" Her head shot up quickly. Had it already been an hour? "Bill? I didn't expect you to be here so quickly." She got up and moved around the desk.
"It took me about an hour to get here." Adama looked at the clock then back to her. He thought it was unusual that she seemed a bit flustered for some odd reason, but downplayed it as she went back to her desk.
"There's something I'd like for you to see." She folded her arms as she turned to lean up against the desk. Taking the cue, Adama moved over to one of the chairs and settled down.
"Ambassador Garcia told me earlier in the day that two of the alliances want to award two of your officers for uncommon valor." She handed him the papers. "Don't worry, part of it's in our language."
"Good," Bill muttered as he looked over the notes. "Interesting," he commented as he handed it back. "Are you sure we can accept all the awards?"
Laura shook her head. "I'm not sure. They have what looks like a title here. And this is a far different sort of award from what we're used to." She indicated a section of the wording on the top sheet. "We've never dealt with something like this before." She leaned back in her chair with a sigh. "At least I've got some time to figure out if it's plausible or not."
Without warning her stomach let out an audible growl.
Bill gave her an amused look as he got to his feet. "Have you had anything to eat today?"
"Breakfast?"
"Not enough," he answered as he pulled her to her feet. As she reached for the papers he shook his head. "That will be here when you get back."
"I guess then it's a late lunch," she easily capitulated.
TBC in Reversus Patria