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Big Bang Fic: Part Ten, BSG/Babylon Five, Wheel Turns
All disclaimers and other information can be found on the Prologue.
Part Nine
"Following the one, they dwell in darkness, alone. Lost forever unto them all." The hybrid murmured, eyes peering sightlessly into something that Leoben occasionally wanted to see himself. Then again, it had driven D'Anna insane, and the hybrids even further over the edge. "Become strong in the light. Fuel efficiency up by point-zero-two. Repairs to main level near-complete."
He'd come back to sit by her, out of boredom. After pitching in to help settle the refugees, he'd found himself with nothing else to do. There was still no word on Kara and Anders, and he wasn't like his brothers. He wasn't very interested in the space station. Oh, it was fascinating in its own way, but it wasn't destiny, it wasn't looking at Kara Thrace and seeing light pouring from inside of her.
"I thought you would be here."
"Caprica," Leoben half-turned and gave her a slight smile of welcome.
She sat down next to him, staring at the hybrid, but not really seeing her. Her fingers brushed along the fabric of her pants before she replied, "I never chose my name."
"Did any of us?" He'd become comfortable in the syllables of Leoben Conoy, taking them on as part of his identity before. And then after, they had been something to cling to (and then there had been Kara Thrace's voice, bright in the darkness, shining with a pull that he couldn't resist).
"Before, I..." she was silent for a moment, and the hybrid's words filled the air.
"It is not what we are, but what we choose. Repairs to lower bulkheads ninety-percent complete. Go with God. Begin again, on the upper. End of line."
"One named us," murmured Leoben, remembering when he'd thought it a silly affectation.
Who would want a name? Weren't numbers good enough?
"Yes."
"Caprica was born in fire," Leoben told her, turning to take her hand. "As were you."
"Infiltration to level nine complete. Five more levels to go."
"Thank you." With a shake of herself, Caprica leaned into his shoulder. "You are kinder than I remember."
He turned her hand over in his two, then closed his fingers around hers. "Perhaps I've had firing of my own."
When she didn't reply, he turned his head a little and found that she'd fallen asleep, leaning against him. Leoben wondered how she could sleep like that, but she'd looked exhausted. Perhaps it was for the best. He shifted a little, trying make them both more comfortable, then gave up.
The hybrid murmured on.
-=-
"Sir, the bigger ship has fired," Corwin reported from the pit.
"Damn. Delenn, how far out are the White Stars again?"
"It will be at least forty minutes."
Not soon enough. Susan tugged at her uniform, then glanced at D'Anna Biers, who'd joined her in C&C, "Your people haven't seen anything like that, have they?"
"It's fascinating, but no, we haven't."
"Commander--" Lyta came around the side of the Pit, looking pensive and tired, as her gaze moved to the ship outside the window. "Is there any way I can help?"
"Lyta, can you get a reading on that ship--I don't want to put you in danger, but, anything can help."
With a nod, the telepath turned her full attention on the thing. She was silent for a moment while Susan dealt with another report of the ship firing, and several reports of communications received from the colonial fleet. "It's not real," Lyta said suddenly, her eyes narrowed slightly.
"What?"
"That ship, it's not real--parts of it are, I can hear the core of it, but the outer layer is just so much nothing." With a frustrated look on her face, Lyta stepped forwards, as though that would help her establish contact. "C'mon, give me something I can--"
"Put me on with the colonials," Susan said, turning away from her. "Mr. Gaeta, this is Commander Ivanova, please remain calm. This situation is being dealt with."
Before he could respond, she made a cutting motion, ending the transmission.
"Susan," Lyta said, her voice insistent, "There are people on that ship, and something else. Something malevolent. Cold."
"What about the composition? Corwin, did we scan it for mass?" Something about Lyta's words was reminding her of something, but she couldn't pinpoint what.
"Mass readings aren't compatible with a vessel that size," replied Corwin. He glanced at Kingsley, then added, "One of the starfuries was almost inside of it when it appeared. Should they fire at it and see?"
"I don't think they'll have to," D'Anna said, interrupting them. "Cavil's just fired at the thing."
-=-
"They fired at me, they actually fired!" a laugh escaped Laird, and he whirled away to a different console, running his fingers in a sequence that was too fast for Kara to see. "How droll. How amusing!"
"Great," Kara muttered. She raised her voice, "So now what, are you just going to continue taking over the Cylon ships? And then move on the colonial fleet, and this space station? They'll be trophies in the great crown of--I'm sorry, what was your species again?"
Laird made a noise of disgust, and then turned to glare at her, "We are the Suppron, and we were here in the universe long before your ancestors crawled out of the primordial slime."
"How wonderful for you," Kara said sarcastically.
Shaking his finger at her, Laird made a sad noise, "You younger races, always trying to do things your way. Thinking you're superior. Well, we are far more than you, and always shall be. Like so." He turned and pointed at Sam. "Activate."
Kara felt her breath stop as Sam shuddered, eyes going wide. His hand moved up to the back of his neck and then fell back to his side as he seemed to freeze in place. It was all of her nightmares coming to life: Sam really a machine, controlled by someone else while they were all trapped inside an underground complex, helpless to escape. Of course, Leoben wasn't there, and they were in space. But they'd started under a mountain, so Kara figured it counted.
"What did you do to him?"
"Merely hacked into his brain. It's lamentably easy, with these Cylons." Laird made a dismissive gesture at Sam, as though ordering him to sit, "Humans are a little harder--" he broke off, frowning. "Now that's interesting."
"You hacked his brain?" Dee snorted, "How is that even possible?"
Laird gave her a disdainful look, then moved back to his console, and frowned, "My nanites on the basestar are facing opposition. How very annoying."
"So, the mighty Suppron," Kara said, her tone scathing, "Might not be so all-powerful after all."
"A minor set-back."
None of them was expecting what happened next. Sam's fist smashed into Laird's face, sending him spinning around as Sam collapsed onto the console, barely staying on his feet.
Reaching out for him, Kara found herself worrying about him. "Sam--"
"Don't--I can--they're pushing at me, Kara, I can't keep them out--" he groaned and sagged into the console.
"Frak that," she snapped and stepped closer, hand touching his face, pulling his head around. "Look at me, Sam. Don't you frakking give up, do you hear me?"
"Kara," he groaned, before he collapsed, taking her to the floor with him.
-=-
"One of the projectiles has hit our ship," a Five reported dispassionately. "Systems are already dealing with the damage."
Cavil snorted, "That's good. Now, can we start firing again on that thing?"
"Obviously, we'll do our best," said One. He plunged a hand into the data stream. "Launching nukes, and a few raiders. That should keep the raptors flying over from the colonial fleet busy." He didn't really notice that it wasn't raptors, but it didn't matter. Starfuries weren't really something he'd encountered before anyway.
"Systems are beginning to fail," the Five said, sounding surprised.
"Auto-repair circuits should deal with that."
"They're not." Suddenly, the Five jerked his hand from the data stream. "There's something in there. It's like nothing I've ever seen."
"Something like what?"
"A virus?"
Cavil sighed and reached out, "I guess I'll play sacrificial lamb." Really, he should have spaced the Fours and the Fives earlier. They were becoming melodramatic annoyances.
"I wouldn't do that," the Five said.
"No, you wouldn't," agreed Cavil before he placed his fingers in the data stream.
-=-
"We need to stop the fleet from running," Felix said, trying not to yank his hair out. It wasn't like he thought everyone in the fleet was a nice person or anything, but Roslin had sort of left them in charge of morale and shit.
Tory frowned at him, "Are they jumping away?"
"Planning on it, from the sounds of it."
"Well, shit."
It was nice to have someone agree with him. "How do we stop them--and we can't shoot them down."
"What about Baltar," Tory suggested.
"Gaius?" Coming over from where she'd been standing with a Two, Caprica frowned, "How would he be helpful?"
"He can preach," Felix muttered. He didn't like the idea, but it had its merits. The dradis pinged, and he swore. "There go five."
"Let's go."
-=-
Are you alive?
The words thrummed through Sam's head, making it hard to think. Kara... Kara had been there, and others. With a jerk, he opened his eyes and found himself on the flight deck of the ship. Kara was crumpled next to him, but there was no one else. He opened his mouth and found that he couldn't remember how to talk.
Kara. Kara, wake up. The words simply wouldn't spill from his mouth.
He pushed her over, hand brushing her face before he took her shoulder and shook her. She jerked awake, smacking his hands away.
Sitting up, she frowned and opened her mouth. No sound escaped, and her eyes widened in apprehension.
Sam touched her cheek, shaking his head and mouthed It'll be okay.
Frak you, was easy enough to read, and then she pushed herself to her feet.
Sam joined her, and both of them searched the chamber for the others, and found nothing. Not even Laird. Oddly enough, there was dust again. Not quite ankle-deep this time, but enough for them to leave trails everywhere. That was how Sam realized that there was no indication that anyone else had ever been there. Kara must have come to the same conclusion, as she grabbed his arm suddenly, gesturing at the dust and making an elaborate gesture.
Spreading his arms wide, Sam gave her the universal what the frak are you talking about? look.
Rolling her eyes, she smacked his arm, then moved to the console they've been leaning against, hands hovering for a moment before she took the plunge and settled her fingers on the controls.
Nothing happened. Sam turned around, realizing that the door was gone, too.
Kara smacked his back, tugging him back to face her. Where is everyone?
With a shrug, Sam pointed at the dust again.
Kara gave a sharp nod.
They'd obviously been moved while unconscious, or... Sam frowned as a sudden thought occurred to him. Maybe they weren't conscious at all. Maybe this was somewhere inside of his own mind, locked away and unable to do anything about the invasion of his body by the Suppron. Anger shook him suddenly. After everything he'd been through, this was the last straw.
Kara's hand tugged at his shirt, bringing her into focus again.
In for a penny... Sam had no idea where the old saying had come from, so he didn't finish it as he caught Kara's face between his hands and kissed her. Not the gentle apology of earlier, but with all his annoyance, fear and anger fueling it.
She gasped against his mouth, her skimming up his chest before she moved in, stretching against him.
To feel her like this again--Sam groaned and wrapped his arms tightly around her, swearing to himself that even if this was a dream, he was not letting her go. "Kara," he murmured against her mouth.
Both of them froze, Kara tipping her head back to stare at him, eyes wide. "Sam?"
"Yeah." He laughed, then, the sound echoing in a room that was too small to contain echoes. He grinned at her, "Nice kiss, baby."
He could see that she wanted to tell him to shut up, but she didn't, rolling her eyes instead and turning away, "So, what happened?"
"Don't know. One moment, I was... there was this thing crawling through my brain, changing who I was. And then you were there and nothing." Sam shook out his fingers, remembering the feel of cracking Laird in the skull with them, though there wasn't a bruise on his knuckles.
"We passed out," Kara said absently, "I think. Did they move us?"
"No... Kara, I don't think we're awake. I think we're inside my head. Or the mainframe of this ship."
"There's certainly room enough for us in there," she muttered, moving to start tapping on the walls.
Letting the insult slide past him, Sam followed her example, going the other way around the room. "No doors, no windows, the consoles aren't working and there's this frakkin' dust. Gods, if this is my head, what does that say about me?"
It was a great opening, but she didn't take it. "Found something, I think."
He hurried to join her, and peered at the cables coming in from a smallish hole in the wall. "That's brilliant, now all we have to do is shrink down and we'll be able to crawl through."
"Don't be silly, Sam. We just have to find a way to blow a hole in the wall. Maybe short out the electrical current."
"Shorted current won't blow a hole in the wall," he pointed out dryly.
"Fine. You come up with an idea."
Sam shrugged, "If we're in my head, then I control the environment, right?"
"Lotta dust, Sammy."
He smiled a little, "So, really, all we need..." He flexed his fingers and closed his hand around the packet of explosives he'd been visualizing. "Is something to hide behind."
Kara crowed with delight, then grabbed the packet from him and fixed it to the cables in front of the opening. "I'm not sure blowing holes in your brain is a good idea, though."
"Won't know until we try it." Sam grabbed her arm when she was finished and tugged her back across the room and behind one of the consoles, "Wanna make out like teenagers in a closet?" he asked, teasing and feeling strangely light-headed.
"You'd slobber too much." Clapping her hand over her ears, she counted down, "Five, four, three, two, one!"
The explosion sent a spike of pain through Sam's head, but he welcomed it as confirmation of his theory, and let Kara drag him to his feet.
A large hole was now in the wall, and outside was utter chaos, and something red. Something that Sam didn't recognize. He felt a wave of loathing wash over him, and pointed, "That's the Suppron, Kara." With an effort of will, he found them guns, "Try not to shoot my head too full of holes, while we're killing it."
She patted his arm, but didn't reply.
-=-
Things were happening, and she was stuck in C&C. Susan grabbed a report, and then turned to Corwin, "One of the basestars is firing on the others?"
"That's what the sensors say, ma'am." He looked like he was afraid she was going to bite his head off.
"Great. Any contact from Cavil since his transmissions cut off?"
"Not that we want to talk to him," D'Anna muttered. She'd been allowed to join Susan, with the proviso that she not interfere.
Susan was trying to decide if being annoying was interfering.
"We don't have time for your petty squabbles. That thing out there is a threat to this station," Susan snapped, her patience gone. Of course, the ship was only one of the threats, but give her one thing at a time! "And unless you've got a better idea, I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself."
D'Anna's eyes went wide, and then she smiled, "I think I like you, Commander." She turned towards the window again. "My only suggestion is to fire on it. The impact we observed earlier seemed to do nothing, but if Ms. Alexander and your mass readings are right, we won't see the impact until whatever they're using to mask the true hull has been taken off-line."
Too risky. So they were stuck being sitting ducks. Susan tried not to grind her teeth, as she turned to check another read-out on station readiness. If the thing attacked, they would be ready. And if it didn't, perhaps God was letting them live another day.
"Commander, several ships from the colonial fleet just jumped away," Kingsley reported from the pit, sounding surprised.
"What!?" Susan turned to glare at D'Anna, "What the hell?"
"It's not of our doing. Did the humans turn tail and run?" mocked D'Anna, although she looked disturbed.
"Get me Gaeta," Susan snapped, "I want to know what the hell is going on, and I want to know now."
"Yes, ma'am!"
-=-
"I'm sorry, let me see if I understand this, now wait--You want me to do what?" Gaius looked between the three people in front of him, wondering if perhaps he'd finally gone mad, and this was the result. Three people in his head who didn't exist.
Gaeta was looking at him with distaste, however. So perhaps it wasn't all an hallucination. "There's unrest, Gaius. I think--we think--that if you broadcast a sermon, it might distract them until Babylon Five can deal with things. I've already had their Commander ream me out for losing five ships."
It wasn't lost on any of them that running was their only option, in a fight. There was no such thing as a fair fight, anymore, not with the Galactica destroyed.
That word was sort of hard to think of, though.
"What makes you think any of them will listen to me?" Gaius snapped, not really certain he cared about the fate of people anymore. Then again, when had he ever cared? He'd just wanted to die in obscurity, really, after all of this and everything that had gone before.
"Because of the numbers," Tory said calmly, "You may have been a drop in the pond, but people listened to you."
Gaius found that he wanted to put his face in his hands and rage about the injustices of the system, and how he was just a citizen, and he'd be damned if he let them use him as a bloody soporific. But really, he had to admit that his ego stirred just a little. You always did like a good call to arms, as it were, she purred in his ear, one elbow leaning negligently on his shoulder. He could smell that spicy-sweetness of her, the one that always made him wonder anew if it were a brain tumor that hack Cottle couldn't find.
"Say I do it. I can't just wave some magic wand and have a prepared sermon, all ready to go."
"Make it up as you go along," suggested Gaeta, his tone sardonic. "It's what you're best at, isn't it?"
"I'll need time," he insisted, looking at Caprica for an instant, and thinking about the way things had changed, the possibilities that had shifted and the worlds forever closed. "I'm not sure I can even be bothered to manage something uplifting."
"Don't be ridiculous," Tory snapped, looking at him as though he weren't very bright. "You've managed to pull all sorts of cheer from horrific events. Just tell them God may close a door, but he opens a window."
Gaius blinked at her, and his tone was dry when he replied, "God destroys a battlestar, but gives us new allies in a space station. How very pedantic."
"It's your voice they trust," Caprica said, sounding surprised at her own conclusion.
"Just read the phonebook, Gaius," suggested Gaeta.
"Felix, really. This antipathy has got to stop." Gaius was a little surprised at his own words. He'd long since made his peace with Gaeta loathing the very sight of him. Or so he'd thought. Gaius had always wanted people to like him, and when they didn't... he'd wanted them to hate him. Somehow, he'd managed both, with Felix.
"We may be too late," a Six bustled up to them, "I've just had a report from Colonial One. Four more ships just made a jump together, and their transmissions indicate there are others planning to follow."
Tory groaned, "Who was it, that ass on the Sulaco?"
The Six's lips compressed, but she nodded, "The Sulaco, Ares, Sierra Troy and Carvelle. We've got some of the Twos trying to piece together their transmissions, but so far, the only thing we've got is Captain Andreides saying that the universe is a lot bigger than he wanted it to be."
Gaeta made a face, and tried to smile at Gaius. It didn't really work, "This is why we need you, doctor."
"It's wrong," Gaius said flatly, surprised that he was letting his conscience have any say in matters. "Besides, why isn't the vaunted Admiral Adama already on the horn, impressing the people with his wit?"
The three exchanged a glance, but it was Tory who answered, her voice devoid of emotion. "The Admiral is currently resting from a long day."
Which explained nothing, and Gaius made a note to try and track down the current rumors, just to see why the man was doing nothing. Then again, perhaps the loss of the Galactica had felled him as nothing else had. It was just a ship, he thought a bit scornfully.
It was all he had, a cool voice reminded him, before she chuckled, Oh, Gaius, you're so invaluable to them now. However do you do it?
"Quite obviously," he replied, "I am the only man for the job, then."
He tried to reassure himself that it wasn't a mistake, and let Gaeta lead him to one of the communications nexuses. It wasn't hard to begin his speech, and his voice was almost too low as he murmured, "Hello, Colonial fleet. It's been a long time--in personal experience, if not in reality. I've been asked to calm your fears, as it were. Do you think you should be afraid? Does God want us fearful and cowering?"
There was no answer, not that he'd expected one, and he continued onwards, his words growing passionate and surreal.
-=-
One watched dispassionately as Cavil died at his feet, still babbling incoherently about having his day. "Really, brother," he said with distaste, "Must you?"
"The infection has spread through both of the other ships," a Five reported dully.
They'd had to isolate parts of the data stream in order to keep the virus from spreading, and Four predicted that the isolation wouldn't hold for long. Too much of a basestar was reliant upon computers, silica pathways, and the exchange of information. Sooner or later, the air would be thick with whatever it was.
All in all, not the best of situations. "Five, instruct the rest of the fleet to jump to new coordinates while we re-group, then get us out of here."
"Is it wise to jump with the virus?" Four objected.
One rounded upon him, "I don't give a damn about wise. This stalemate won't last much longer, the humans will fire, and they'll pick us off very easily."
In fact, it suddenly occurred to him that the virus was probably of their doing.
He glared in the approximate direction of this Babylon Five, with its Earthforce. "We'll return once we've eradicated it, and then we'll destroy these puny humans."
Four opened his mouth to object, so One shot him.
"I'll prepare to jump us," said Five hastily.
Neither of them glanced again at the bodies on the floor. One made a vague mental note to have one of the other Fours clear the area out. After the virus was gone, of course.
-=-
Killing the Suppron virus or nanites, or whatever they were, was almost fun. Sam found that he could drop them a lot faster if he thought about washing dishes at them. He wasn't entirely sure if it was the dishes, or the concentration he was putting into remembering that particularly ugly floral pattern his mother had.
That she truly had been his mother was something he didn't doubt, even if he couldn't remember a face or a name. Just the dishes.
"We've got 'em on the run," Kara said, her tone full of satisfaction.
"Yep." They loped after them. There was no exhaustion, here, no sense of being tired. Sam hoped that continued to be true, but he didn't mention it to Kara. "Wait--" he suddenly felt something tingle at the back of his neck, the hairs standing up as they approached a corner.
"For what?" She pulled free and was almost to the corner, when Sam realized what was wrong.
They'd been led here. He put on a burst of speed, thinking desperately about shields and bullet-proof vests, plexiglass and concrete as his hands closed on her arms and they were stumbling around the corner.
Suppron things were lying in wait and opened fire on them, the bullets bouncing off the plexiglas bubble he'd managed to throw up.
"Neat trick." Kara shouted over the sound.
"I learned from the best." Pulling her back into him, Sam spun them so she was at his back, and then he pushed at the barrier. It broke, the pieces flying outwards to cut through the lines of Suppron, and then Sam was firing at them, Kara's guns sounding from behind him.
They moved together, dropping into the scant cover of an overturned sofa. Sam really didn't want to know about the vagaries of his mind, even though he thought he recognized it from his first college apartment in Caprica City.
"Nice couch!"
"Thanks!" Sam didn't elaborate as they both popped out of cover to fire again.
Within minutes, they had the area cleared of Suppron. Sam got to his feet and began looking around at the corpses, watching as they faded away into nothing. His headache was getting worse, the longer this went on. Probably to do with memory and whatever it was these things were using to hack into his brain.
"We need to find where they came in, stop them at the beginning," Kara suggested, after checking her ammunition.
"I like the way you think, baby," he said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes, "Don't think this gets you off any hooks, Sam."
"No, sir, no hooks." He smacked her ass as he walked by, "This way."
"Don't push your luck."
It was one of the weirdest things he'd ever done. Fighting in his own mind, traveling a landscape of corridors that shifted and changed. Sometimes, they were from ships of the fleet, other times, that last stretch before you ran out onto a pyramid court. Occasionally, they belonged to Delphi High. Eventually, Sam felt like they were getting close and sped up to try to catch them unaware.
Kara grabbed his arm, pulling him to a halt. "Wait," she murmured, eyes suspicious as she eyed the perfectly normal corridor ahead of them.
With impatience, Sam started to shake her hand off when his brain caught up with his emotions. If Kara was suspicious about something, it was best to trust her instincts. He nodded, and relaxed, backing to the previous corner, Kara moving with him.
"Now what?"
She grinned and bent down to pick up a handful of shell casings. Sam didn't know how they'd gotten there, and wasn't sure he wanted to know. "I test a theory."
With a quick toss, Kara sent the casings scattering down the hall before she pushed Sam around the corner, and joined him.
An explosion shattered the stillness, and Sam felt as though needles were being driven into his brain. He sagged into the wall, his knees buckling.
"Hey, hey, Sam--" Kara caught at him, holding him up, but barely. "Don't fall over on me now. We still have aliens to stop."
"Don't know if I can," he mumbled, his vision greying.
She slapped him, making his head jerk to one side. "Stay with me."
With a blink, he found some semblance of reality (though what was reality where they were, he didn't know) returning. "All right. I'm here. I'm good."
"Good." She gave him a worried glance, then headed for the corner, "Now, let's get 'em before they recover."
Part Eleven
Part Nine
"Following the one, they dwell in darkness, alone. Lost forever unto them all." The hybrid murmured, eyes peering sightlessly into something that Leoben occasionally wanted to see himself. Then again, it had driven D'Anna insane, and the hybrids even further over the edge. "Become strong in the light. Fuel efficiency up by point-zero-two. Repairs to main level near-complete."
He'd come back to sit by her, out of boredom. After pitching in to help settle the refugees, he'd found himself with nothing else to do. There was still no word on Kara and Anders, and he wasn't like his brothers. He wasn't very interested in the space station. Oh, it was fascinating in its own way, but it wasn't destiny, it wasn't looking at Kara Thrace and seeing light pouring from inside of her.
"I thought you would be here."
"Caprica," Leoben half-turned and gave her a slight smile of welcome.
She sat down next to him, staring at the hybrid, but not really seeing her. Her fingers brushed along the fabric of her pants before she replied, "I never chose my name."
"Did any of us?" He'd become comfortable in the syllables of Leoben Conoy, taking them on as part of his identity before. And then after, they had been something to cling to (and then there had been Kara Thrace's voice, bright in the darkness, shining with a pull that he couldn't resist).
"Before, I..." she was silent for a moment, and the hybrid's words filled the air.
"It is not what we are, but what we choose. Repairs to lower bulkheads ninety-percent complete. Go with God. Begin again, on the upper. End of line."
"One named us," murmured Leoben, remembering when he'd thought it a silly affectation.
Who would want a name? Weren't numbers good enough?
"Yes."
"Caprica was born in fire," Leoben told her, turning to take her hand. "As were you."
"Infiltration to level nine complete. Five more levels to go."
"Thank you." With a shake of herself, Caprica leaned into his shoulder. "You are kinder than I remember."
He turned her hand over in his two, then closed his fingers around hers. "Perhaps I've had firing of my own."
When she didn't reply, he turned his head a little and found that she'd fallen asleep, leaning against him. Leoben wondered how she could sleep like that, but she'd looked exhausted. Perhaps it was for the best. He shifted a little, trying make them both more comfortable, then gave up.
The hybrid murmured on.
-=-
"Sir, the bigger ship has fired," Corwin reported from the pit.
"Damn. Delenn, how far out are the White Stars again?"
"It will be at least forty minutes."
Not soon enough. Susan tugged at her uniform, then glanced at D'Anna Biers, who'd joined her in C&C, "Your people haven't seen anything like that, have they?"
"It's fascinating, but no, we haven't."
"Commander--" Lyta came around the side of the Pit, looking pensive and tired, as her gaze moved to the ship outside the window. "Is there any way I can help?"
"Lyta, can you get a reading on that ship--I don't want to put you in danger, but, anything can help."
With a nod, the telepath turned her full attention on the thing. She was silent for a moment while Susan dealt with another report of the ship firing, and several reports of communications received from the colonial fleet. "It's not real," Lyta said suddenly, her eyes narrowed slightly.
"What?"
"That ship, it's not real--parts of it are, I can hear the core of it, but the outer layer is just so much nothing." With a frustrated look on her face, Lyta stepped forwards, as though that would help her establish contact. "C'mon, give me something I can--"
"Put me on with the colonials," Susan said, turning away from her. "Mr. Gaeta, this is Commander Ivanova, please remain calm. This situation is being dealt with."
Before he could respond, she made a cutting motion, ending the transmission.
"Susan," Lyta said, her voice insistent, "There are people on that ship, and something else. Something malevolent. Cold."
"What about the composition? Corwin, did we scan it for mass?" Something about Lyta's words was reminding her of something, but she couldn't pinpoint what.
"Mass readings aren't compatible with a vessel that size," replied Corwin. He glanced at Kingsley, then added, "One of the starfuries was almost inside of it when it appeared. Should they fire at it and see?"
"I don't think they'll have to," D'Anna said, interrupting them. "Cavil's just fired at the thing."
-=-
"They fired at me, they actually fired!" a laugh escaped Laird, and he whirled away to a different console, running his fingers in a sequence that was too fast for Kara to see. "How droll. How amusing!"
"Great," Kara muttered. She raised her voice, "So now what, are you just going to continue taking over the Cylon ships? And then move on the colonial fleet, and this space station? They'll be trophies in the great crown of--I'm sorry, what was your species again?"
Laird made a noise of disgust, and then turned to glare at her, "We are the Suppron, and we were here in the universe long before your ancestors crawled out of the primordial slime."
"How wonderful for you," Kara said sarcastically.
Shaking his finger at her, Laird made a sad noise, "You younger races, always trying to do things your way. Thinking you're superior. Well, we are far more than you, and always shall be. Like so." He turned and pointed at Sam. "Activate."
Kara felt her breath stop as Sam shuddered, eyes going wide. His hand moved up to the back of his neck and then fell back to his side as he seemed to freeze in place. It was all of her nightmares coming to life: Sam really a machine, controlled by someone else while they were all trapped inside an underground complex, helpless to escape. Of course, Leoben wasn't there, and they were in space. But they'd started under a mountain, so Kara figured it counted.
"What did you do to him?"
"Merely hacked into his brain. It's lamentably easy, with these Cylons." Laird made a dismissive gesture at Sam, as though ordering him to sit, "Humans are a little harder--" he broke off, frowning. "Now that's interesting."
"You hacked his brain?" Dee snorted, "How is that even possible?"
Laird gave her a disdainful look, then moved back to his console, and frowned, "My nanites on the basestar are facing opposition. How very annoying."
"So, the mighty Suppron," Kara said, her tone scathing, "Might not be so all-powerful after all."
"A minor set-back."
None of them was expecting what happened next. Sam's fist smashed into Laird's face, sending him spinning around as Sam collapsed onto the console, barely staying on his feet.
Reaching out for him, Kara found herself worrying about him. "Sam--"
"Don't--I can--they're pushing at me, Kara, I can't keep them out--" he groaned and sagged into the console.
"Frak that," she snapped and stepped closer, hand touching his face, pulling his head around. "Look at me, Sam. Don't you frakking give up, do you hear me?"
"Kara," he groaned, before he collapsed, taking her to the floor with him.
-=-
"One of the projectiles has hit our ship," a Five reported dispassionately. "Systems are already dealing with the damage."
Cavil snorted, "That's good. Now, can we start firing again on that thing?"
"Obviously, we'll do our best," said One. He plunged a hand into the data stream. "Launching nukes, and a few raiders. That should keep the raptors flying over from the colonial fleet busy." He didn't really notice that it wasn't raptors, but it didn't matter. Starfuries weren't really something he'd encountered before anyway.
"Systems are beginning to fail," the Five said, sounding surprised.
"Auto-repair circuits should deal with that."
"They're not." Suddenly, the Five jerked his hand from the data stream. "There's something in there. It's like nothing I've ever seen."
"Something like what?"
"A virus?"
Cavil sighed and reached out, "I guess I'll play sacrificial lamb." Really, he should have spaced the Fours and the Fives earlier. They were becoming melodramatic annoyances.
"I wouldn't do that," the Five said.
"No, you wouldn't," agreed Cavil before he placed his fingers in the data stream.
-=-
"We need to stop the fleet from running," Felix said, trying not to yank his hair out. It wasn't like he thought everyone in the fleet was a nice person or anything, but Roslin had sort of left them in charge of morale and shit.
Tory frowned at him, "Are they jumping away?"
"Planning on it, from the sounds of it."
"Well, shit."
It was nice to have someone agree with him. "How do we stop them--and we can't shoot them down."
"What about Baltar," Tory suggested.
"Gaius?" Coming over from where she'd been standing with a Two, Caprica frowned, "How would he be helpful?"
"He can preach," Felix muttered. He didn't like the idea, but it had its merits. The dradis pinged, and he swore. "There go five."
"Let's go."
-=-
Are you alive?
The words thrummed through Sam's head, making it hard to think. Kara... Kara had been there, and others. With a jerk, he opened his eyes and found himself on the flight deck of the ship. Kara was crumpled next to him, but there was no one else. He opened his mouth and found that he couldn't remember how to talk.
Kara. Kara, wake up. The words simply wouldn't spill from his mouth.
He pushed her over, hand brushing her face before he took her shoulder and shook her. She jerked awake, smacking his hands away.
Sitting up, she frowned and opened her mouth. No sound escaped, and her eyes widened in apprehension.
Sam touched her cheek, shaking his head and mouthed It'll be okay.
Frak you, was easy enough to read, and then she pushed herself to her feet.
Sam joined her, and both of them searched the chamber for the others, and found nothing. Not even Laird. Oddly enough, there was dust again. Not quite ankle-deep this time, but enough for them to leave trails everywhere. That was how Sam realized that there was no indication that anyone else had ever been there. Kara must have come to the same conclusion, as she grabbed his arm suddenly, gesturing at the dust and making an elaborate gesture.
Spreading his arms wide, Sam gave her the universal what the frak are you talking about? look.
Rolling her eyes, she smacked his arm, then moved to the console they've been leaning against, hands hovering for a moment before she took the plunge and settled her fingers on the controls.
Nothing happened. Sam turned around, realizing that the door was gone, too.
Kara smacked his back, tugging him back to face her. Where is everyone?
With a shrug, Sam pointed at the dust again.
Kara gave a sharp nod.
They'd obviously been moved while unconscious, or... Sam frowned as a sudden thought occurred to him. Maybe they weren't conscious at all. Maybe this was somewhere inside of his own mind, locked away and unable to do anything about the invasion of his body by the Suppron. Anger shook him suddenly. After everything he'd been through, this was the last straw.
Kara's hand tugged at his shirt, bringing her into focus again.
In for a penny... Sam had no idea where the old saying had come from, so he didn't finish it as he caught Kara's face between his hands and kissed her. Not the gentle apology of earlier, but with all his annoyance, fear and anger fueling it.
She gasped against his mouth, her skimming up his chest before she moved in, stretching against him.
To feel her like this again--Sam groaned and wrapped his arms tightly around her, swearing to himself that even if this was a dream, he was not letting her go. "Kara," he murmured against her mouth.
Both of them froze, Kara tipping her head back to stare at him, eyes wide. "Sam?"
"Yeah." He laughed, then, the sound echoing in a room that was too small to contain echoes. He grinned at her, "Nice kiss, baby."
He could see that she wanted to tell him to shut up, but she didn't, rolling her eyes instead and turning away, "So, what happened?"
"Don't know. One moment, I was... there was this thing crawling through my brain, changing who I was. And then you were there and nothing." Sam shook out his fingers, remembering the feel of cracking Laird in the skull with them, though there wasn't a bruise on his knuckles.
"We passed out," Kara said absently, "I think. Did they move us?"
"No... Kara, I don't think we're awake. I think we're inside my head. Or the mainframe of this ship."
"There's certainly room enough for us in there," she muttered, moving to start tapping on the walls.
Letting the insult slide past him, Sam followed her example, going the other way around the room. "No doors, no windows, the consoles aren't working and there's this frakkin' dust. Gods, if this is my head, what does that say about me?"
It was a great opening, but she didn't take it. "Found something, I think."
He hurried to join her, and peered at the cables coming in from a smallish hole in the wall. "That's brilliant, now all we have to do is shrink down and we'll be able to crawl through."
"Don't be silly, Sam. We just have to find a way to blow a hole in the wall. Maybe short out the electrical current."
"Shorted current won't blow a hole in the wall," he pointed out dryly.
"Fine. You come up with an idea."
Sam shrugged, "If we're in my head, then I control the environment, right?"
"Lotta dust, Sammy."
He smiled a little, "So, really, all we need..." He flexed his fingers and closed his hand around the packet of explosives he'd been visualizing. "Is something to hide behind."
Kara crowed with delight, then grabbed the packet from him and fixed it to the cables in front of the opening. "I'm not sure blowing holes in your brain is a good idea, though."
"Won't know until we try it." Sam grabbed her arm when she was finished and tugged her back across the room and behind one of the consoles, "Wanna make out like teenagers in a closet?" he asked, teasing and feeling strangely light-headed.
"You'd slobber too much." Clapping her hand over her ears, she counted down, "Five, four, three, two, one!"
The explosion sent a spike of pain through Sam's head, but he welcomed it as confirmation of his theory, and let Kara drag him to his feet.
A large hole was now in the wall, and outside was utter chaos, and something red. Something that Sam didn't recognize. He felt a wave of loathing wash over him, and pointed, "That's the Suppron, Kara." With an effort of will, he found them guns, "Try not to shoot my head too full of holes, while we're killing it."
She patted his arm, but didn't reply.
-=-
Things were happening, and she was stuck in C&C. Susan grabbed a report, and then turned to Corwin, "One of the basestars is firing on the others?"
"That's what the sensors say, ma'am." He looked like he was afraid she was going to bite his head off.
"Great. Any contact from Cavil since his transmissions cut off?"
"Not that we want to talk to him," D'Anna muttered. She'd been allowed to join Susan, with the proviso that she not interfere.
Susan was trying to decide if being annoying was interfering.
"We don't have time for your petty squabbles. That thing out there is a threat to this station," Susan snapped, her patience gone. Of course, the ship was only one of the threats, but give her one thing at a time! "And unless you've got a better idea, I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself."
D'Anna's eyes went wide, and then she smiled, "I think I like you, Commander." She turned towards the window again. "My only suggestion is to fire on it. The impact we observed earlier seemed to do nothing, but if Ms. Alexander and your mass readings are right, we won't see the impact until whatever they're using to mask the true hull has been taken off-line."
Too risky. So they were stuck being sitting ducks. Susan tried not to grind her teeth, as she turned to check another read-out on station readiness. If the thing attacked, they would be ready. And if it didn't, perhaps God was letting them live another day.
"Commander, several ships from the colonial fleet just jumped away," Kingsley reported from the pit, sounding surprised.
"What!?" Susan turned to glare at D'Anna, "What the hell?"
"It's not of our doing. Did the humans turn tail and run?" mocked D'Anna, although she looked disturbed.
"Get me Gaeta," Susan snapped, "I want to know what the hell is going on, and I want to know now."
"Yes, ma'am!"
-=-
"I'm sorry, let me see if I understand this, now wait--You want me to do what?" Gaius looked between the three people in front of him, wondering if perhaps he'd finally gone mad, and this was the result. Three people in his head who didn't exist.
Gaeta was looking at him with distaste, however. So perhaps it wasn't all an hallucination. "There's unrest, Gaius. I think--we think--that if you broadcast a sermon, it might distract them until Babylon Five can deal with things. I've already had their Commander ream me out for losing five ships."
It wasn't lost on any of them that running was their only option, in a fight. There was no such thing as a fair fight, anymore, not with the Galactica destroyed.
That word was sort of hard to think of, though.
"What makes you think any of them will listen to me?" Gaius snapped, not really certain he cared about the fate of people anymore. Then again, when had he ever cared? He'd just wanted to die in obscurity, really, after all of this and everything that had gone before.
"Because of the numbers," Tory said calmly, "You may have been a drop in the pond, but people listened to you."
Gaius found that he wanted to put his face in his hands and rage about the injustices of the system, and how he was just a citizen, and he'd be damned if he let them use him as a bloody soporific. But really, he had to admit that his ego stirred just a little. You always did like a good call to arms, as it were, she purred in his ear, one elbow leaning negligently on his shoulder. He could smell that spicy-sweetness of her, the one that always made him wonder anew if it were a brain tumor that hack Cottle couldn't find.
"Say I do it. I can't just wave some magic wand and have a prepared sermon, all ready to go."
"Make it up as you go along," suggested Gaeta, his tone sardonic. "It's what you're best at, isn't it?"
"I'll need time," he insisted, looking at Caprica for an instant, and thinking about the way things had changed, the possibilities that had shifted and the worlds forever closed. "I'm not sure I can even be bothered to manage something uplifting."
"Don't be ridiculous," Tory snapped, looking at him as though he weren't very bright. "You've managed to pull all sorts of cheer from horrific events. Just tell them God may close a door, but he opens a window."
Gaius blinked at her, and his tone was dry when he replied, "God destroys a battlestar, but gives us new allies in a space station. How very pedantic."
"It's your voice they trust," Caprica said, sounding surprised at her own conclusion.
"Just read the phonebook, Gaius," suggested Gaeta.
"Felix, really. This antipathy has got to stop." Gaius was a little surprised at his own words. He'd long since made his peace with Gaeta loathing the very sight of him. Or so he'd thought. Gaius had always wanted people to like him, and when they didn't... he'd wanted them to hate him. Somehow, he'd managed both, with Felix.
"We may be too late," a Six bustled up to them, "I've just had a report from Colonial One. Four more ships just made a jump together, and their transmissions indicate there are others planning to follow."
Tory groaned, "Who was it, that ass on the Sulaco?"
The Six's lips compressed, but she nodded, "The Sulaco, Ares, Sierra Troy and Carvelle. We've got some of the Twos trying to piece together their transmissions, but so far, the only thing we've got is Captain Andreides saying that the universe is a lot bigger than he wanted it to be."
Gaeta made a face, and tried to smile at Gaius. It didn't really work, "This is why we need you, doctor."
"It's wrong," Gaius said flatly, surprised that he was letting his conscience have any say in matters. "Besides, why isn't the vaunted Admiral Adama already on the horn, impressing the people with his wit?"
The three exchanged a glance, but it was Tory who answered, her voice devoid of emotion. "The Admiral is currently resting from a long day."
Which explained nothing, and Gaius made a note to try and track down the current rumors, just to see why the man was doing nothing. Then again, perhaps the loss of the Galactica had felled him as nothing else had. It was just a ship, he thought a bit scornfully.
It was all he had, a cool voice reminded him, before she chuckled, Oh, Gaius, you're so invaluable to them now. However do you do it?
"Quite obviously," he replied, "I am the only man for the job, then."
He tried to reassure himself that it wasn't a mistake, and let Gaeta lead him to one of the communications nexuses. It wasn't hard to begin his speech, and his voice was almost too low as he murmured, "Hello, Colonial fleet. It's been a long time--in personal experience, if not in reality. I've been asked to calm your fears, as it were. Do you think you should be afraid? Does God want us fearful and cowering?"
There was no answer, not that he'd expected one, and he continued onwards, his words growing passionate and surreal.
-=-
One watched dispassionately as Cavil died at his feet, still babbling incoherently about having his day. "Really, brother," he said with distaste, "Must you?"
"The infection has spread through both of the other ships," a Five reported dully.
They'd had to isolate parts of the data stream in order to keep the virus from spreading, and Four predicted that the isolation wouldn't hold for long. Too much of a basestar was reliant upon computers, silica pathways, and the exchange of information. Sooner or later, the air would be thick with whatever it was.
All in all, not the best of situations. "Five, instruct the rest of the fleet to jump to new coordinates while we re-group, then get us out of here."
"Is it wise to jump with the virus?" Four objected.
One rounded upon him, "I don't give a damn about wise. This stalemate won't last much longer, the humans will fire, and they'll pick us off very easily."
In fact, it suddenly occurred to him that the virus was probably of their doing.
He glared in the approximate direction of this Babylon Five, with its Earthforce. "We'll return once we've eradicated it, and then we'll destroy these puny humans."
Four opened his mouth to object, so One shot him.
"I'll prepare to jump us," said Five hastily.
Neither of them glanced again at the bodies on the floor. One made a vague mental note to have one of the other Fours clear the area out. After the virus was gone, of course.
-=-
Killing the Suppron virus or nanites, or whatever they were, was almost fun. Sam found that he could drop them a lot faster if he thought about washing dishes at them. He wasn't entirely sure if it was the dishes, or the concentration he was putting into remembering that particularly ugly floral pattern his mother had.
That she truly had been his mother was something he didn't doubt, even if he couldn't remember a face or a name. Just the dishes.
"We've got 'em on the run," Kara said, her tone full of satisfaction.
"Yep." They loped after them. There was no exhaustion, here, no sense of being tired. Sam hoped that continued to be true, but he didn't mention it to Kara. "Wait--" he suddenly felt something tingle at the back of his neck, the hairs standing up as they approached a corner.
"For what?" She pulled free and was almost to the corner, when Sam realized what was wrong.
They'd been led here. He put on a burst of speed, thinking desperately about shields and bullet-proof vests, plexiglass and concrete as his hands closed on her arms and they were stumbling around the corner.
Suppron things were lying in wait and opened fire on them, the bullets bouncing off the plexiglas bubble he'd managed to throw up.
"Neat trick." Kara shouted over the sound.
"I learned from the best." Pulling her back into him, Sam spun them so she was at his back, and then he pushed at the barrier. It broke, the pieces flying outwards to cut through the lines of Suppron, and then Sam was firing at them, Kara's guns sounding from behind him.
They moved together, dropping into the scant cover of an overturned sofa. Sam really didn't want to know about the vagaries of his mind, even though he thought he recognized it from his first college apartment in Caprica City.
"Nice couch!"
"Thanks!" Sam didn't elaborate as they both popped out of cover to fire again.
Within minutes, they had the area cleared of Suppron. Sam got to his feet and began looking around at the corpses, watching as they faded away into nothing. His headache was getting worse, the longer this went on. Probably to do with memory and whatever it was these things were using to hack into his brain.
"We need to find where they came in, stop them at the beginning," Kara suggested, after checking her ammunition.
"I like the way you think, baby," he said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes, "Don't think this gets you off any hooks, Sam."
"No, sir, no hooks." He smacked her ass as he walked by, "This way."
"Don't push your luck."
It was one of the weirdest things he'd ever done. Fighting in his own mind, traveling a landscape of corridors that shifted and changed. Sometimes, they were from ships of the fleet, other times, that last stretch before you ran out onto a pyramid court. Occasionally, they belonged to Delphi High. Eventually, Sam felt like they were getting close and sped up to try to catch them unaware.
Kara grabbed his arm, pulling him to a halt. "Wait," she murmured, eyes suspicious as she eyed the perfectly normal corridor ahead of them.
With impatience, Sam started to shake her hand off when his brain caught up with his emotions. If Kara was suspicious about something, it was best to trust her instincts. He nodded, and relaxed, backing to the previous corner, Kara moving with him.
"Now what?"
She grinned and bent down to pick up a handful of shell casings. Sam didn't know how they'd gotten there, and wasn't sure he wanted to know. "I test a theory."
With a quick toss, Kara sent the casings scattering down the hall before she pushed Sam around the corner, and joined him.
An explosion shattered the stillness, and Sam felt as though needles were being driven into his brain. He sagged into the wall, his knees buckling.
"Hey, hey, Sam--" Kara caught at him, holding him up, but barely. "Don't fall over on me now. We still have aliens to stop."
"Don't know if I can," he mumbled, his vision greying.
She slapped him, making his head jerk to one side. "Stay with me."
With a blink, he found some semblance of reality (though what was reality where they were, he didn't know) returning. "All right. I'm here. I'm good."
"Good." She gave him a worried glance, then headed for the corner, "Now, let's get 'em before they recover."
Part Eleven