225 - Without Words

[number_eight]

"Good hunting."



Those were the last words I remember saying clearly before we all got into our Vipers (which, actually, wasn't my Viper since I'm a Raptor jock, but we needed every last person out there to fight off the Cylons), and then I was off.

We had a victory of sorts, but nothing where anyone could pinpoint how it had happened. All the alert Vipers were out, we were at Condition One on Galactica, practically every nugget was out there (including Sam, poor guy), and I would have sworn to God that they had us. But, once we all came back to Galactica, combat landing, the FTLs were spooled up enough that we could get the frak out of there.

And then, there it was. She was, rather. I remember standing next to Racetrack, my mouth practically gaping open. Kara. Kara was standing there, right the frak in front of us all on the hangar deck, acting like nothing was wrong.

I'm sure everyone wanted to ask me the question – "Is she a Cylon?" Sorry guys. I don't know. I can't even tell. It's hard to explain, but we've been programmed not to think about those last five Cylons, and frankly, until that shared projection with President Roslin and Caprica, I hadn't thought about them at all. I was just trying to live my life as Sharon, wife of Karl, mother of Hera, member of the Colonial Fleet.

So when my best friend was there, alive? I couldn't tell you if I was dreaming, projecting, hallucinating, if she was a Cylon, or if a miracle had happened and I'd gotten my friend back. Then again, everyone around me pretty much had the same reaction.

[Locked]

Some of them, like Sam and Lee (and it's weird to call him that instead of Major Adama) seemed to take it harder. Or easier? I just stayed back from it all and talked to Karl later, who'd been able to talk a little more to "Kara" than I had been able to do. Guess she said she'd found Earth and he'd tried to help her prove that to everyone else but…

[/Locked]

I don't know what to do now. I don't know if I should go and talk to her, because so far, all I've done is stay away. What if everyone's right? What if she's a Cylon, and I just can't pick up on it because of my programming?

Then again, she believed in me when no one else would. When I was pregnant and begging to be treated like a human, not a machine.

Shouldn't I give her the same respect?



Muse: Sharon "Athena" Agathon
Fandom: Misc. TV/"Battlestar Galactica"
Word Count: 440

Comments

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

We were all reeling, Lieutenant. I don't think anyone knew what to make of the situation. Most still don't.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

That's my point. If I'm more than a machine, if I'm to be treated as any other human should be, then it shouldn't matter what Kara is or isn't.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

Not that I think she is, but you're not getting an argument from me, I can tell you that much.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Really? That's a change of heart.

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

If she's a Cylon, she's always been one, and I know how I felt about her then.

And a good CAG knows his people, and notices when he's got good people.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

So, how do you feel about Boomer, then? If I might play Devil's Advocate?

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

I didn't really ever know Boomer, so that's hard to say.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

Of all people, it had to be her.

If it really is the person we know as Kara Thrace, if I could afford to consider the possibility, I'm sure I would be thrilled beyond measure to have her back for the Fleet.

I don't know what to believe about her, but I do know that when the survival of the Fleet is at risk, it's best to err on the side of caution.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Just as your erred on the side of caution when it came to my daughter, Madam President?

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

With the information I had at the time, I don't consider it an error. A necessary evil, maybe, but not an error.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Then how can you say anything different about Kara?

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

Who else is going to say it, Lieutenant?



[locked]
META: Besides, she's standing in front of me right now holding a gun to my head.

[/locked]

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Why should we?

[Locked and/or Meta]
Didn't several other people do the same thing before to several other members of the Fleet?

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

You know the answer to that question.

[locked to Sharon]

It's not just about the men and women of Galactica. You can't afford to think of yourself as a separate entity from the Fleet, because then you start putting certain things above the Fleet. And then we're doomed.

It's about the men, women, and children whose only line of defense is Galactica. I cannot afford to let them down, because letting them down means they die. Like the six hundred we just lost. Six hundred souls we couldn't afford to lose.

We can't afford to simply take Kara Thrace's word for anything until we have more information as to where she's been, what happened to her after she was killed in a Viper explosion, and what could have been done to her.

I don't need to remind you that there are still five other Cylons out there who could be sleeper agents.

[/locked]

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

[Locked]

No, you don't need to remind me, but they might not be sleepers for all we know. Caprica and I can't tell you much about those other Cylons, after all.

If you want to get nitpicky and start a witch hunt all over again, then you could be one for all I know.

I'm not saying I'm right. I'm just saying that maybe Kara isn't wrong. You entrusted her before with the Arrow of Apollo. She's saved us many times over.

If it was The Old Man, you wouldn't be questioning him.

[laura-muse.livejournal.com]

[locked]

Maybe Starbuck isn't wrong, but maybe she's a Cylon. Or maybe she was abducted by the Cylons and held for two months. I need to consider every possibility and something is not right. Whatever it is, people do not return from the dead unless they have help. Unless you have a suggestion or speculation as to what that help may have been (and no, that is not an accusation, it's a genuine question), you're thinking with your emotions.

You haven't been in many meetings between the Admiral and myself, Lieutenant. If you were, you'd know better.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

[Locked]

I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes, its not so bad to think with our emotions.

It's what makes us human, after all.

[cain-enabled.livejournal.com]

ooc - I'm going to be fascinated to see how Sharon deals with the issue of the final five . . . and this was really well done.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

OOC: Me too! (Both Sharons!) And thank you! ^_^

[callsign-helo.livejournal.com]

Trust me, the shock in CIC was exactly the same. As for... Kara, well... I guess what's important is whether or not she's our Kara, no matter what else she might or might not be.

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

So is she? Our Kara?

[callsign-helo.livejournal.com]

I don't know yet. Maybe if anybody actually got a chance to talk to her...

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

Good point.