that vision thang - FIC: Instrument of the Gods, Chapter 5

Less than a day after being taken to the brig in shackles, Kara was being escorted to the Admiral’s quarters by a full Marine guard. The soldier in charge explained that she was no longer in custody, but that the Admiral wanted to talk to her in private and he didn’t want her to get waylaid by all the people who were happy that she was back.

Kara raised an eyebrow. “I would think that that would be a very short list, Corporal.”

He smiled back. “Longer than you expected, I’m sure.”

“And it didn’t cross the Admiral’s mind that someone might decide that I must be a Cylon agent and take me out, huh?” she asked, eyeing the bullet-proof vest another Marine handed her.

“Might have occurred to him,” the Marine acknowledged.

“How about you?” she asked, testing the waters. She knew at least three of the marines here in passing; more than one better than that.

“You always beat the odds.” One of the marines piped up. “Way I see it, this is no different. Doc cleared you. You’re the same nasty bitch that left three months ago.” The whole group chuckled.

Trust the jarheads to simplify things, she thought to herself. Shrugging on the vest, despite her misgivings about how she would be greeted and how she would explain where she had been, Kara felt happy. Tierra cast a shadow upon it, though; Kara had not dreamed of her last night, and she began to worry that maybe it was all a fiction created by her own mind. Her mental digression was cut off by the marine leader. “Ready, Captain?”

Nodding, she prepared herself for a fast hustle and hunched down to avoid eye contact or any impromptu weapons lobbed her way. The way was lined with the normal bustle of a battlestar mid-shift; conversations in the halls died as she passed, and did not resume. CIC was by-passed for a longer, less direct route to the Admiral’s quarters. The hatch was open when the contingent arrived, and they all stepped through.

The Marines gave way immediately, leaving her a clear view of the President, the president’s aide, an elder priestess, Cottle, Tigh, the Admiral, and Lee, arrayed across the room with no rhyme or reason. All but the Admiral and Lee were seated; the Admiral was rising from his desk chair and Lee looked liked he had been pacing. Not waiting for her to remove the vest, Lee made it across the room in seconds and enveloped her in a bear hug of epic proportions.

The Admiral gave her and Lee a few moments of semi-privacy as he dismissed the Marine guards, before he intruded. “I am officially welcoming you back to the Fleet, Captain Thrace. Your identify had been confirmed by Cottle.” Cottle himself grunted agreement.

Pulling slightly away from Lee so that she could see the Admiral as well, she smiled through tears. “Glad to be back, sir.”

A few seconds later, Lee released her with a shuddering breath. She looked up into his eyes, and bit her lip. “We need to talk later, Lee. Really talk.” Lee nodded in agreement, and turned back to the room with her.

“Captain Thrace,” the President began. “I know it is unusual to have so many civilians in a military debriefing session, but as usual, you are the exception to the rule. Some things have occurred since you- left us-“ she paused for a better choice of words, then went on without them- “that put your reappearance in a different light.”

Tigh jumped in, ignoring protocol. “What the hell happened out there, Starbuck?”

Kara found that she was still at a loss for words to adequately explain where she had been, what she had done, and what she had learned. “I was- somewhere else-“ she began.

“Don’t start frakking with us,” Tigh started, but was cut off by the priestess, a raven-haired woman of impressive height and frame.

“What was this somewhere else like, Captain?” the priestess asked in a gentle voice. Kara could easily imagine her leading worship services, her voice raised in song.

Neglecting to answer, Kara asked a question of her own. “Not to be rude, but why is she-“ she jerked her head towards the priestess- “here?” The question was directed to the Admiral, who deferred to the President.

“While you were gone, the work of a religious scholar came to my attention. It was an old work, saved in some odd database. Quite a miracle anyone found it at all. ” The President crossed her legs at the ankle and smoothed her skirt. “This scholar believed that the Book of Pythia had been mistranslated at points. Her interpretation of the Pythian prophecies led me to believe that I am not the leader who would bring the people of the Colonies to Earth.”

Kara felt her heart pump harder and got momentarily light-headed. She swallowed roughly. “You are dying; you aren’t dead. I was.”

The President gave Kara a miniscule smile, tight at the corners. “Yes, Captain Thrace. That is it exactly. How did you know?”

Letting out a breath of relief- it might not be as hard to persuade them that she knew the way to Earth as she had thought- Kara answered, “I have it on high authority that your obscure religious scholar is right.”

Lee’s face tightened, creases appearing between his eyes and around his mouth. “High authority?” he asked, then looked at the Admiral.

“Maybe you should start at the beginning, Kara.” The Admiral made himself comfortable in a leather chair and motioned Kara to another one.

So Kara began with her instinct that the mandela would not kill her. She neglected to mention the pregnancy or the visions she had been having. She saw the guilt Lee felt at forcing her into the air when she was unstable; more guilt for not saving her from herself once there. She would deal with that later, when they were able to talk alone. Continuing, she tried to describe the place between, and the beings she had met there. She was a little vague about the specifics relating to her delivery and daughter, but honest about everything else. The more she talked, the more worried Lee looked, the more excited the priestess became, and the more disbelieving Tigh’s posture grew. By the time she described what Earth looked like and how she could only find out the path back to it in small steps, Tigh was on his feet and the Admiral himself looked skeptical.

“You were gone for three months, Thrace,” Tigh stated. “How can you account for all that time? Playing on the beach on Earth?”

Fighting the urge to hit him again, Kara spoke quietly. “Time doesn’t flow the same there; it might not flow at all, actually. It’s like it doesn’t exist.”

The priestess nodded and leaned over to whisper something to the President, who nodded in return. “So a goddess told you that you were a chosen Hero?” she asked in her usual cool, politic tone.

“Yes,” Kara stated, licking her suddenly dry lips. “I didn’t believe it any more than you do. But I’m back here, just as Hera said I would be. If you’ve looked over my Viper, you’ll see that it’s been modified.”

Lee nodded. “FTL is only one of a few modifications we discovered. There is also a database of star systems that we’ve never encountered before.”

The President acknowledged the information. “You must understand why I am skeptical, Captain Thrace. This significantly changes our understanding of our situation.”

“Yes, Madame President,” Kara replied.

“I would like you to work with Cassandra,” she motioned to the priestess at her side, “and her fellow priests to go over the Scrolls of Pythia with your new knowledge, and see what you can come up with.”

“Yes, Madame President,” she repeated.

Cassandra smiled widely at Kara. “I believe you, Captain Thrace. I know we will find proof in the scrolls.”

Wryly, Kara said, “Thanks.”

“It will take me at least a few hours to gather the materials and people we need. Will tomorrow morning be good to meet?” Cassandra asked Kara, while looking at the President as well.

Both Kara and the President nodded. The decision broke the meeting up, as everyone but the Admiral, Lee, and Kara left. Quiet reigned as the room emptied.

Adama broke the silence first. “Is there anything you want to tell us, aside from your official report, Kara?”

His tone caught her off balance. He was leading her- she could tell. He knew something she hadn’t shared; Cottle must have said something about the pregnancy. “What do you want to know more about, sir?” she tried to play it off. She did not want to have this first conversation about Tierra with Lee in front of his father; she had wanted to keep this quiet, so as not to have her sanity overly questioned.

Lee leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his eyes not meeting hers. “The baby, Kara. What happened to the baby?”

She played dumb. “What baby?”

His voice irritated, Adama’s words snapped her around to stare at him. “The baby you had while you were gone.”

“I didn’t have a-“ she started.

Lee rose, fury on his face. “You didn’t want it, we know that. Cottle told us you wanted to terminate, and he wouldn’t help you. But he said that he could tell that you had delivered while you were gone. You were a month when you left; gone three months. It isn’t possible, unless your story is true about time running differently.”

Gods help her. She was going to have to admit full out to the baby to prove her story. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you, Lee.”

“That you were pregnant, or that you abandoned the child?” he spat back angrily.

“The baby is fine. She’s safe.” Kara didn’t want to say more just yet.

Lee’s tone absolutely dripped with sarcasm. “Are the gods looking after her, then?”

The Admiral cut in. “This isn’t productive, Lee.”

Lee took a deep breath and stared at the decking for a moment. “You’re right, Dad. Can Kara and I have the room?”

“Take her to your quarters,” the Admiral summoned the marines back in and handed Kara the vest again. “I don’t want my office left in pieces once you’re done with each other.”