Chapter 28P - A Little Later

[Brie]

“What a mess, what a mess.” Brie sat up as Turner sat down on the bed next to her. “Ten yahrens, wow, they really don’t let anyone mess up anymore.”

“I didn’t mess up,” Brie corrected. “I stand by my decision to include Amy and to give her command, and if I have to spend ten yahrens in the brig because of it then I will.”

Turner smiled. “On the bright side at least you know what happened to me. It must be a bit of a relief knowing that you were right all along, that I WAS murdered.”

“I guess.” She sat back against the wall.

“Okay, Brie, what’s bothering you? You know you can talk to me.”

“That’s pretty sad,” she said. “The only person I can talk to right now is my dead husband.”

“Hey, it’s better than nothing,” Turner replied, feigning having been offended. “Let’s talk this out. You know that Pierce was involved with my murder, and you know that he manipulated you and Boleman into having you confess your ‘breakdown.’ What are you going to do with this information?”

“What CAN I do?” Brie asked. “Pierce is respected throughout the fleet, and everyone now thinks that I’m crazy.”

“Pierce is FEARED throughout the fleet,” Turner corrected. “There’s a difference. Can you share what he told you with anyone? How about Charybdis?”

Brie just stared at Turner. “You know what happened at the Tribunal. Charybdis ended up looking like a teenager in the back of a hovermobile. His credibility has most likely gone way down for the micron.”

“I know there are other people who want to help,” Turner said. “How about that squadron leader? The one you keep telling to leave you alone.”

“No,” Brie said quickly. “Pierce decided to bring me down because of you. It’s going to stop here. No one else is going to get hurt by this.”

Turner laughed. “Holy frack, Brie, you want him, don’t you?”

Brie turned bright red. “I want him to leave me alone.”

“It’s okay, Honey,” Turner said, putting his hand on Brie’s. “We talked about this when we were both alive. I have no problem with you falling in love again.”

“I am NOT falling in love with him,” Brie said defiantly.

Turner gently unrolled Brie’s fingers and removed the note from JustinB that she had still been clutching. “Whatever you say. But what happened to the other one? You know, your SIC.”

“Can we change the subject back to Pierce?” Brie pleaded.

Turner laughed again. “You’ve got a thing for two different guys at the same time! I would have never thought that possible.”

“None of this matters,” Brie said. “I’m in the brig, remember? The next ten yahrens...”

“Oh yeah, Pierce. What are you going to do?”

“I was thinking about faking insanity again,” Brie replied. “That would get me out of here, which would be a start.”

Turner shook his head. “That would never work. Pierce knows you faked it the last time. Besides, do you REALLY want to go through all of that again?”

Brie shuddered as a cold chill ran up her spine. “No,” she said quietly. “But it’s the only idea I can come up with.”

Turner thought for a micron. “Well, since it’s Pierce’s word against yours, the best thing you can do is to find out more information. Get him talking. Maybe he’ll give you something you can use.”

“That would mean he’d have to come see me,” Brie informed him. “I can’t exactly go wandering around the Callisto at the moment.”

“Pierce is an arrogant son of a daggit,” Turner reminded her. “Otherwise he never would have told you anything. He’ll be back.”

“You’re probably right,” Brie said.

“I know you need me,” Turner said, “so I’ll be around. Remember, my love, you’re never alone.”

Brie opened her eyes, the dream still feeling real. She realized that Justin’s note was still clutched in her hand. She wrinkled it up and threw it at the cell wall. The best thing for Justin would be to forget all about her.

[Brie]

In the converted storage area, a dozen people listened to Pierce’s every word. “Now is the time to strike,” he was saying. “Last time we were too big and too unorganized. But now, the timing couldn’t be better.”

A hand went up in the back of the group. “Who are we going to kill this time? I hope it’s Commander Apollo.”

Pierce looked disgusted. “The New SSS will not operate the same as the old. People will die only when necessary. I’ve got a new plan that’s sure to give us control. We take over two ships, and it will bring the entire fleet to their knees.”

“Which two ships?” someone asked. “The Callisto and the Galactica?” There were some murmurings and guesses throughout the group.

Pierce held up his hand and silenced them. “No, we’ll take over the Livestock Ship and the Agro Ship. If we control the fleet’s food supply, we’ll control the fleet.”

“That’s not going to be as easy as it sounds,” someone pointed out. “The warriors will try to stop us, same as last time.”

“The warriors are all too busy living in fear of making a mistake,” Pierce said with a grin. “After sending Brie to the brig for ten yahrens, they’re scared that the same thing could happen to them. Now we might need a few warriors to be sympathetic to our cause to pull this off, but by and large they won’t be a problem.”

“How are we going to get aboard the two ships?” was the next question.

“We already have several men standing by, posing as workers on the Livestock Ship. And the Agro Ship?” Pierce smiled again. “The late Captain Amy grew up there. I met her parents. Once they return I’ll need to go check on them, see how they’re doing. Of course I’ll need to bring a few people with me. Now, are there any more questions?” No one said anything. “This meeting of the New Secret Survival Society is closed. I’ll be in touch, through the same scrambled channels as before.”

[Brie]

One by one the members of the New Secret Survival Society left their meeting place. They each left in a different direction, trying their best to make sure that no one could have placed them together at any time. Major Pierce took the long way after leaving the storage area. He wasn’t overly concerned about being followed, but after the carelessness with some of the members of the first SSS he wasn’t about to take any chances. He knew exactly where he wanted to go. He was headed to the brig.

Brie was lying on her cot, still thinking about her dream. She knew that at the micron her dreams of Turner were the only thing that she had to look forward to. She didn’t hear the footsteps, wasn’t even aware that anyone was approaching until she heard the guard Millie’s voice. “Would you like me to let you in?”

“No,” Pierce said rudely. “I can talk from here.”

Brie slowly stood up. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you any manners? It should be, ‘No, thank you.’” She walked over to the cell door and lowered her voice. “Why don’t you want to come in, Pierce? Scared I’ll really strangle you this time?”

Pierce kept his voice down as well. “Hardly.” Absentmindedly he rubbed his throat with his hand. “But there are cameras in the cell. I wouldn’t want anyone to be able to read my lips.”

Brie laughed. “I’m the paranoid one, remember?”

“You faked the whole thing, remember?” Pierce mocked Brie’s tone.

“What do you want?” Brie asked.

“I was just wondering how your first centar of imprisonment was,” Pierce said casually. “Only one centar down, let’s see, how many centars are there in a yahren? Multiply that by ten...”

“You came by to remind me of my sentence? How sweet of you. Wow, I never thought I’d refer to you as being sweet.”

[Brie]

“Consider your current situation a victory, Brie,” Pierce suggested. “Serving your time in the brig, instead of on the Prison Barge. That would have been a life sentence.”

Brie was slightly curious. “Why would they have given a longer sentence for the Prison Barge? It was because Commander Sheba wanted me close that I’m here.”

Pierce chuckled. “The sentence wouldn’t have been longer, your life would have been shorter. It’s a shame, really. I had the whole thing planned. Upon arrival you would have been attacked by a woman who is already serving life, so she has nothing to lose, but saved by another woman. Saved and befriended. You would have been given a few sectars, just enough time for you to let down your guard a little bit. And then killed by the woman you thought that you could trust.”

“Executed for crimes against humanity? Like Turner was?”

Pierce chuckled again. “No, with this woman it would have been for the sheer pleasure of it.”

“Do any of these women have names?” Brie asked.

“How stupid do you think I am?” Pierce asked. “I have people loyal to me all over the fleet, but you won’t hear even one name from me.”

“Who am I going to tell?” Brie asked. She was hoping that he would give her something that she could use to prove that he had been involved in Turner’s murder. “You’ve discredited me before the fleet, people think that I’m crazy, and it’s not like I have any real friends anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Pierce asked. “What about Charybdis?”

Brie rolled her eyes. “If Charybdis was really my friend he wouldn’t have constantly undermined my authority the way that he did. He and I had talked extensively in the past about his relationship with Amy, he knew I wouldn’t approve of what they did right before the mission. Besides that, I haven’t even heard from him since before the Tribunal. If he was half the friend that I once thought he was, he would have stuck by me.”

“You’re friends with Major Skyler,” Pierce pointed out.

Brie shrugged. It dawned on her that Pierce was grilling her for information. She knew that she had to protect anyone close to her. “To a point, but if I know Gold Squadron he’s going to have his hands full with the fallout from the Tribunal. Didn’t it ever dawn on you that this could bring chaos among the entire Colonial Military?”

“Maybe that’s what I wanted,” Pierce said slyly without elaborating. “Major JustinB!”

“What about him?” Brie asked.

“Certainly you consider him a friend.”

Brie laughed. “Justin and I hardly even know each other, outside of having been competing squadron leaders.”

Pierce looked surprised. “But...”

“That wasn’t friendship. That was a little bit too much grog and a mix up in the housing assignments,” Brie explained. She shook her head. “No, Amy was my friend and she’s dead and I’m being held responsible, Lazant was my friend, and he’s dead and I’m being held responsible, and Turner was my best friend, and you murdered him.”

“I told you before, it was an execution, but I don’t have time to get into that again, at least not right now.” Pierce looked at his wrist chrono. “I have someplace that I need to be. Maybe after my meeting you could join me for, oh, I’m sorry, I forgot. You’re busy for the next ten yahrens. But don’t worry, I’ll be back.” He took a few steps down the hall.

“Next time I DARE you to enter the cell,” Brie called after him. She didn’t care if anyone else heard.

"Daring people is a game for children," Pierce mumbled unheard.

[Brie]

Although he felt more at home aboard the Galactica, Pierce had studied the blueprints of the Callisto extensively and knew his way around. He had been assigned an office and small private quarters, but what he needed to do he couldn’t risk having traced back to him. There were computer terminals all over the ship, a step-up from the Galactica. All he needed to do was find one that wasn’t TOO public, but he didn’t want to look like he was hiding.

Walking down the corridors Pierce noticed the disdain of many warriors. Very few would look directly at him, although he could feel their stares on the back of his neck after he passed. That was good, the more upset the warriors were with the system the better things would be for him and his cause.

Pierce made his way to the desired terminal and typed in a false security code. The computer accepted. Pierce then started his message to the men aboard the Livestock Ship. He scrambled it by using an old Cylon code, and then an old merchant code, since no one remembered the merchant codes anymore. The message was short and to the point. “Hold tight, and wait for my signal. It won’t be too much longer. Things will soon be set in motion.”

[Agelastus]

I was tired of poring over recordings of the Tribunal. The more I looked at it, the less I believed that Pierce had got at any of the witnesses...although a couple of times I was still getting a bad vibe. However, each and every viewing just reinforced the impression I had that Pierce's crusade against the major had been too...too fanatical, even for someone holding a grudge.

Pierce's case history was a matter of public record. It had taken microns to drag up his previous encounter with Brie.

I hadn't yet tried accessing the secured portions of his records. The coding and security protocols had just been revised, and I needed to get my own equipment updated. Which would take time; my contacts were no longer all that I wished them to be.

It was almost time to see what the Major could tell me. I was starting to hit a dead end.

The last thing I did before closing down the terminal I was using was to activate a "watch-daggit" programme. A seemingly simple AI routine to monitor the movements and computer activities of Pierce. I had no real fear that the programme would be spotted. The man who'd created it had been a supremely skilled slicer.

And he was also a long-dead slicer, meaning that the odds were good that I was the only person who knew the routine existed, It had been in the Callisto's computers almost since the beginning.

I left the room in a hurry. I needed to find an old..."friend", and then I would be time to see the Major.

[Brie]

After Pierce left Brie found herself pacing. She was trying to remember every word of the conversation. She couldn’t help but think about who he was meeting with and what it was about. Something was up, and she knew that he would give her just enough information to make her constantly wonder.

One part of the conversation struck a reality in Brie that had never dawned on her before. She had very few real friends. She had comrades and acquaintances, but it was seldom that she let herself get truly close to someone. Her career had always been everything to her, and with that gone her life was almost without meaning.

Skyler would stick by her. The simple fact that he hadn’t yet stopped by the brig told her how badly he was taking the verdict. She hoped that he wouldn’t do anything stupid, she needed him to lead Gold Squadron. When he did finally stop by she would have to push him away, hurt him so badly that it would break her own heart as well as his. Brie knew that Skyler was in love with her and she also had strong feelings for him, but she tried very carefully to not cross that imaginary line since she had been his commanding officer for so long. Whether or not they could have ever had a future in a different situation she would never know.

Thinking about hurting Skyler turned her thoughts to JustinB. There was something so confusing to her about him. They didn’t really know each other all that well, but if she could have given him a chance they might have become close. She hated that she had made him think that it had been “just because of the grog” because it wasn’t. But more than anything now she wanted to forget him, and for him to forget her.

Charybdis was a completely different story. She didn’t really know how mad she was at him, or how much she blamed him for her current situation. She had known him for seemingly forever. They had been through so much together, the loss of Turner, the loss of Astraea, and now Amy.

Amy. Lords, how Brie missed her. There had been something so special about that girl! If only the Tribunal members had known her they would have understood. Unfortunately a lot of the men on the Callisto couldn’t see past her physical beauty, and Amy seemed to get caught up in that a little bit too often. The conversations that they used to have about Najinn and Charybdis! Brie laughed, thinking about how ironic it was that she was now finding that she had feelings for two different men, and how happy Amy would have been to find out that she was human after all.

Brie sat back down on the bed, tired of pacing. She had never felt so alone.

[Agelastus]

“Hello Quiver.”

The woman in front of me jerked. She hadn’t seen me as she walked into her quarters. Her private quarters…given her rank, this must have required some creative accounting.

Nothing more than I’d expected, of course, although this was the first time I’d actually taken the time to find them. She had always been easy enough to find in the past, after all. But for this, I needed some privacy.

The silence stretched. Quiver seemed reluctant to speak. Understandable, really. The last time we’d spoken, she’d nearly cracked my skull; I’d been very careless. Which is why this time I was calm, composed, ready…and two metrons away from her. With my laser pointing in her direction; pointing right at her midsection, in fact.

“Come, Quiver, no greeting for an old friend?”

“Agelastus,” she muttered. That was all.

“Relax Quiver. I still don’t know that you had my Viper sabotaged…or even that it was sabotaged. To be honest, I’m not that interested at the moment. That was before Pangara, after all.

“And I’m sure someone as well connected as you has heard the news. Enough people shuttled over from the Galactica for it to spread.”

One of my fellow warriors would have assumed I was talking about the Major. Quiver knew better; I was referring to the Sorayama. And the fact that, for some reason, my death-mark had been placed in abeyance by that organization.

“Then why are you here?” Quiver seemed to relax slightly. Her face became a little less pale.

“Why, because I may need some help, Quiver. Someone I owe is in trouble, and you know I always pay my debts.” Quiver almost had the grace to blush at this. Almost. “You know that better than most, after all. What was it Quiver? A life for a life…”

“Yes! And we’re even. You said that then! So why are you here!” Quiver almost shouted. She was nervous. Since we both boarded the Callisto, we’d had a few brief conversations. But now I’d sought her out in her quarters.

“Well, now.” I grinned, coldly. “Are we even? After all, I wonder what security would say if they ever realized that ‘Quiver’ doesn’t exist. Or rather, didn’t exist until she joined the crew of the Callisto as an environmental tech.”

Quiver paled. “You wouldn’t. I could get you in too much trouble yourself.”

”Actually, you couldn’t. You don’t know enough. Less than you think, in fact. More to the point though, there are a lot of other people who would be quite determined to make sure you didn’t talk. Especially those who provided you with this new identity…”

Quiver really was pale now.

“After all,” I continued. “The Sorayama gets very…upset when people in their employ undertake, shall we say, private commissions. Upset enough to make those self-same people very…determined that people’s mouths stay shut.

“And by the way, Quiver. Given your, ahem, ‘lack of funds’ just how do you think those certain people were ‘persuaded’?”

Quiver was looking at me aghast. “It couldn’t have been you! You were still on the prison barge. You joined the Callisto with the final personnel draft.”

I sighed. And stayed silent, letting Quiver think it through further. Contacts were the basis of everybody’s influence at this level, contacts and favours owed.

“Two bottles of ambrosa,” I whispered. Quiver looked at me quizzically, and then I saw understanding flicker in her eyes. And belief.

I stood and moved towards her. “You still owe me Quiver.”

“What do you want?”

”I’m not sure yet. I think I’m going to need some help. I’m going to need you to do some things. But whatever I need or want, you’ll do it or get it. Agreed?” I left the ‘or else’ silent and unspoken.

Mechanically, Quiver nodded her head, and then seemed to slump in on herself. I left her leaning against the wall of her quarters. As I ran through the preparations I needed to make for my next appointment, I smiled. It had been a good idea ensuring I still had leverage over Quiver. Two bottles of ambrosa for a person’s life.

A real bargain.

[Agelastus]

The brig was quiet. And dark, the lighting dimmed to the semi-twilight that was as low as they ever turned the illumination here. The guards had to be able to see if they ever made their rounds.

Night was yet another privilege an imprisoned Colonial citizen forfeited, at least in space.

The Major hadn’t spotted my presence, although I thought she was awake. Her breathing wasn’t as slow and measured as that that I would normally associate with a sleeper.

“Major”, I called out softly. Brie responded almost instantly. No, she had most definitely not been asleep.

“Captain?” She was surprised, I could tell. The guards would have raised the lights if my visit had been official. One of them might even have been standing off to one side, watching the dangerous prisoner and her visitor. Security seemed to have an exaggerated opinion of us warriors at times.

“What are you doing here?” She continued in hushed tones. Disapproving tones. I forestalled her from saying anything about regulations by the speed of my response.

“Why, to see how they’re treating you of course. To have a nice, friendly chat. We could discuss the weather, the upcoming Triad games…Major Pierce and why he went after you like a Sagitarran hunting daggit? Things like that.”

Brie was silent. She glanced up towards the ceiling in a significant manner.

“The monitors are replaying some recent footage, Major. They probably won’t even notice. And they really are sloppy. Two men on at all times, that’s what the regulations call for. Nobody seems to mind if people go to the turboflush though, or check out a circuit burnout at the storage locker. Or rather, nobody seems to check. Log in to your station, and you’re there.”

“And the other prisoners?”

”Relax Major. These fields make pretty good sound baffles, and there are only two other prisoners here. They’re both at the far end of the brig as well. They seem to want to keep you isolated. Maybe they’re afraid you’ll start something…” I trailed off, grinning at the last. Security personnel really were afraid of warriors, when all was said and done.

Of course, those two prisoners couldn’t hear a thing anyway. The Callisto’s brig was designed so that it could be flooded with anaesthesine vapour should a riot or escape attempt occur. The system was set up by a fair-minded individual, though. Each cell could be individually flooded, and with a greater or lesser concentration of the gas. Only the guilty need suffer in any incident. Privately I blessed whoever that foolish idealist had been. Brie’s two fellow prisoners wouldn’t sleep for long, but they were snoring away peacefully now.

Not that I was going to mention this to the Major of course. She’d probably have me thrown into the brig for such a gross breach of regulations…and for endangering lives. I hadn’t had time to check the prisoners’ medical records, and some people were allergic to the gas after all.

Of course, I didn’t have much time. I’d had to preset another distraction to clear the guards for my exit. I couldn’t use a remote to activate it when I needed it. The transmission pulse would have triggered three-quarters of the brig alarms, and silencing them would have required the entire system be sliced. Very, very noticeably and, in all probability, very, very audibly too; in all probability, very, very traceably as well.

A remote would definitely not have been a very clever idea.

I hoped all this effort would be worth it. Looping the footage had been simple – the monitors had enough links to various other parts of the ship (such as the Command Deck) that accessing one of the control runs was relatively simple and safe. Setting up a circuit burnout in a storage locker wasn’t too hard or traceable either. Power spikes were easy to fake. The anaesthesine use bothered me a little though. The amount in the tanks was monitored, and the system itself was much more secure than that for the monitors. The flaw was that the same idealist who set it up had had it linked up to Life Center as well as the security post in the brig, so that medical personnel could monitor its usage. The small amount released shouldn’t register a warning in Life Center, as it was within the percentage for natural wastage. Still, it was a worry.

“Well Major?” I asked, as the Major’s silence continued. “Feline got your tongue…”

[Brie]

“Okay, you want to talk about the weather? Well, that would be kind of pointless, considering the fact that we’re living in a controlled environment. So let’s talk about the upcoming triad games. I might actually have a chance to watch them for a change, since they’re carried on the IFB. So see, there’s an upside to my situation.”

“Major...” Agelastus said slowly.

Brie shook her head. “Please don’t call me that. I’ve lost my rank, so now it’s just plain old Brie. Anything else is an insult to the entire military system.”

“A system that has just failed you,” Agelastus pointed out.

“True,” Brie replied. “But it’s been very good to you.”

“You’re avoiding my question,” Agelastus said.

“What question was that?” Brie asked. She figured that he had a way planned out of the brig and had very little time, so she would stall as long as possible.

Agelastus answered with one word. “Pierce.”

“Oh, him,” Brie replied casually. “He doesn’t like me.”

“Why?” Agelastus asked.

“Go figure,” Brie replied. “I think I’m a nice enough person. A little stuffy I realize, but that’s what happens when you’re a woman trying to prove yourself in a male dominated environment. Maybe he’s just a chauvinist.”

“There’s more to it than that.” Agelastus was trying hard to hide his irritation.

Brie, on the other hand, was starting to enjoy herself. “You think? Well, maybe it was because of the time that he had certain, um, ‘intentions’ if you get my drift, and I pushed him away. The male ego can be such a fragile thing.”

“That’s not it either,” Agelastus remarked.

Brie pretended to be offended. “What, is it THAT difficult to believe that someone would actually hit on me? Then maybe it’s because I made a conscious choice to leave three people behind to die on the Cylon moon.”

“I was there, remember? There wasn’t anything else you could have done.”

“Or maybe,” Brie said, raising her voice just enough for Agelastus to get a worried look on his face, “it’s what I said all along. Maybe he hated the fact that I was the only blotch on his record, and he set out to correct it. I’m sure you’ve read the transcripts from the Tribunal. I lost my mind when my husband died, and Pierce didn’t think I should have been reinstated. Given my current situation, maybe he was right.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Agelastus asked.

Brie sighed. “Okay, you’ve got me. There’s something that I’m hiding. Pierce is upset with me because I have a history of putting my faith in the wrong people, giving them a second chance, bending over backwards to get their files sealed so no one can use their past against them, only to have those same people blow that second chance by slipping into places where they’re NOT supposed to be to find out information that’s none of their fracking business!” She grew very serious. “I’ll let it slide this time, Captain, but if you make another unauthorized visit, I WILL report you. I happen to believe that this system that has failed me is still the only hope for our people.”