Chapter 28T - Good News?

[Brie]

“Oh, enough with the fracking shackles!” Boleman was already seated at the table in the small meeting room. There were two other men seated as well, Major Pierce and Major Buellah.

“Sorry, Sir, it’s the rules,” Enoch explained.

“Well, you can remove them now,” Boleman scowled.

Enoch looked at Pierce, who nodded. Enoch removed the shackles. “We’ll be right outside, if you need us.” He and Jared closed the door behind them.

“Please, Brie, have a seat,” Boleman said.

Brie remained standing, rubbing her wrists. She glanced at the faces of the men around her. Pierce seemed both upset and pleased, Boleman was trying too hard and Buellah refused to even look at Brie. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“The Galactica has discovered a Cylon Cruiser of some type,” Boleman explained. “The pilot was Captain Lazant.”

Brie felt very faint, and almost fell into her chair. “Lazant? He’s alive? How is he? What about Amy and Deke?”

“Lazant escaped with minor injuries,” Boleman informed her. “Deke didn’t make it, but from the reports I read he had been gravely injured anyway.” He stopped.

“What about Amy?” Brie asked with both fear and excitement.

“She’s alive,” Boleman said softly, “but barely. They’ll do all they can for her. They’re bringing her back to the Callisto, from what I understand.”

Brie sat back, trying to absorb the news. “Amy and Lazant are alive...”

“We’ve been meeting here, talking about your future,” Boleman said. “The original charges were gross negligence in the DEATHS of Captains Amy and Lazant. That obviously isn’t true anymore.”

“So I can go free?” Brie asked.

[Col. Charybdis]

I was walking rather briskly toward the bridge. As I approached the outer corridor, several crewmembers were standing around talking. When they saw me, one of them said, "Great news, huh, Colonel?" with a smile on his face.

I didn't know how to react since I didn't know what the frack was going on. I gave a quick nod and continued on. I got a funny feeling. This had happened before...when...Brie and her team had been found alive!!!

My heart skipped a beat! Who or what could this news be? At least it was good news for once.

I quickened my pace and burst onto the bridge... to find out just what had happened...

[LucianG]

When Charybdis entered, Lieutenant Finky, smiling broadly, pointed and said, "They're wait'in for you in there, Sir." There were smiles and claps as she escorted him into Commander Sheba's Ready Room.

"Colonel Charybdis!" said Lucian, standing, when the Callisto's second-in-command entered the room, "Commander Sheba has temporarily left the Bridge. In her absence, a captured Cylon cruiser piloted by a Colonial Warrior transferred from the Galactica to the Callisto under the escort of a flight of Black Squadron Warriors. The cruiser just landed safely in Beta Bay, and is under heavy guard. A Med Team has been dispatched and should be arriving at any time. We don't know the status of the Cruiser's occupants, but Captains Lazant and Amy are reportedly aboard...."

[Col. Charybdis]

Before Lucian could go on, I blurted out, "Amy?! What the frack? They're alive?" Lucian nodded, "It appears that way, Colonel. But..."

Before he could get another syllable out I asked, "Are they still there or have they been taken to sick bay?"

Lucian quickly said that they should still be onboard the cruiser but Doc BKJ had been summoned and would immediately take them to the Med Lab...

"You have the bridge, Major!" I screamed at him and quickly left...

[Brie]

“So I can go free?” Brie asked. She couldn’t think of anything but trying to see Amy, and she knew she would need her freedom to do that.

“No!” Pierce said loudly.

Major Buellah spoke for the first time. “The charges have been modified,” he explained. “It’s now just Gross Negligence on the Pangara Moon Mission. I’ll just need you to sign...”

Brie shook her head. “No. I wasn’t negligent, and I will NOT say that I was!”

“Can I have a few centons alone with my client?” Boleman asked. Pierce started to object but instead followed Major Buellah’s lead out the door. “Brie,” Boleman started slowly, “there are two choices here. We can agree to the modified charges, or we can go through another Tribunal.”

“I’ll take another Tribunal,” Brie said quickly. “We know what his strategy would be. You told me that was the problem the first time, you didn’t know he would be going after Amy. This time we could do it right...”

“No,” Boleman said firmly. “You need to remember, Brie, that if there was another Tribunal we not only know Pierce’s strategy, he knows ours as well. A strategy that didn’t work too well before. Now, I’ve worked out a good deal for you as far as the modified charges are concerned.”

“A good deal?” Brie repeated, not able to believe what she was hearing.

“Yes,” Boleman said. “If Amy’s brain function returns it’s just two yahrens in the brig.”

“Amy’s brain function?” The seriousness of Amy’s condition had yet to dawn on Brie.

“She’s extremely critical,” Boleman explained. “From what I’ve been told she’s lucky that Lazant could put her in stasis or we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Now, if Amy physically survives but is brain-dead, you would serve seven yahrens.”

Brie took a deep breath, hating what she was about to ask. “What if she doesn’t make it?”

“Then it’s the original ten yahrens,” Boleman said. “Both Major Buellah and Major Pierce insisted on it.”

Brie thought for several microns. “I still want to take my chances with another Tribunal. I wasn’t negligent, and I won’t say that I was.”

Boleman grew slightly upset. “If you’re not willing to follow my recommendations, then you’ll need to find yourself another Protector.”

Brie raised her voice. “Fine, I will!”

Boleman sat back and looked at Brie with a cold stare that she had never seen before. “Who?” he asked. “There’s no one who would touch you right now. Even if you could find someone to take your case, how are you going to pay him? Protectors are expensive, and since they read and deployed your last will and testament when they thought you were dead, you’re broke. Your friends took up a collection to cover some of my costs, and I was going to let the rest slide as a favor to Commander Apollo, but if you fire me, I’ll demand payment in full. Defaulting on your debts is enough in itself to throw you back in the brig.” He smiled, the coldness leaving slightly. “I know what’s best here, Brie. I have your best interests at heart. You wouldn’t win another Tribunal, and Pierce will push harder for a life sentence.”

“Can you arrange for me to see Amy?” Brie asked.

“I can try,” Boleman said. “I promise I'll do everything I can, IF you agree to the modified charges. Otherwise you’ll never see her again.”

“Okay,” she said at last. “I’ll sign.”

Boleman brought Major Buellah and Pierce back in. Buellah pushed the papers over to Brie. He still wouldn’t make eye contact with her. “I have a request,” she said. “Instead of the brig, I want to serve my time on the Prison Barge.” She looked at Pierce as she said it.

“No!” Boleman and Buellah said at the same time. Pierce just smiled.

“Commander Sheba wanted you here,” Buellah added quickly. “If you want to request a transfer, ask to speak to her. But I don’t know when she’ll have the time.”

“Where do I sign?” Brie asked.

“Here, and here.” Major Buellah pointed, and Brie literally signed her life away.

[Brie]

Enoch and Jared were escorting Brie back to the brig when they took a strange turn. “This isn’t the easiest way back,” Brie commented.

“We know what we’re doing,” Enoch snapped back.

They stopped to open a door and led Brie inside. Waiting for them was Major Pierce. “Oh frack,” Brie said loudly.

Pierce ignored her. He handed each of the blackshirts a cubit. “For your trouble,” he said.

“If you’re going to risk your career AND your freedom to accept a bribe it should be for more than one lousy cubit,” Brie said.

“You’re right,” Jared said. “Major...” Pierce just stared at the two men. “Then again,” Jared said fearfully, “one cubit is more than generous. You get five centons, Major, any more than that and we’ll be reported as late.”

“Five centons is more than generous,” Pierce replied, mocking Jared’s tone. He almost pushed the two men out of the door, then closed it behind them.

With her hands shackled behind her Brie felt slightly vulnerable, but she wasn’t going to let it show. Pierce stared at her for several microns, enough to make her extremely uncomfortable, but she held her head up high. “What the frack was that about before, about wanting to be transferred to the Prison Barge?” Pierce asked.

Brie started to laugh. “That? I just wanted to see the look on your face, that’s all. I knew that it wouldn’t really happen.”

“Oh.”

Pierce reached over and touched Brie’s face. She immediately moved away. “Don’t touch me. I may not be able to strangle you this time, but there is more than one way to protect myself.”

“We only have five centons anyway,” Pierce replied. He got a very distant look in his eyes. “Did you know that you’re almost as hated by those who follow me as your husband was?”

“By those who follow you? I thought your group broke up after you murdered Turner.”

“Turner.” Pierce spat out his name. “The Great Traitor.”

“Baltar is the Great Traitor,” Brie said, almost out of habit. “I met him once. A really creepy guy, although now that I think about it he was a lot more charming than you are.”

“Baltar did what he thought was best for the survival of his people,” Pierce said almost mystically. “Baltar wasn’t a traitor, he was a role model.” Pierce looked at Brie again and seemed to snap out of it. “No, Turner was the Great Traitor. He didn’t have vision, didn’t allow for change. Change for the better. He just blindly followed the system, just like you do, Brie. Just like most warriors do. But my NEW followers didn’t have much of a chance to hate Turner, so I’m allowing them to hate you instead. The Widow of the Great Traitor. We can refer to Turner as the Great Traitor in public, and no one is the wiser. Not a bad plan, if I do say so myself.”

“New followers?” Brie asked. Now she was getting somewhere.

“There will always be people who hate the system, Brie,” Pierce replied. “If I tweak their hatred, well, then what happens, happens.”

“What are you planning?” Brie wanted to know.

Pierce actually smiled. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” He looked at his chrono. “I have someplace to be, and so do you. And just between you and me, I hope Amy doesn’t make it. Two yahrens is way too short.” He knocked on the door, and Brie returned to the brig with Jared and Enoch.

[Brie]

“New followers.” The words kept running through Brie’s mind. It was obvious to Brie that Pierce was up to something, but what? She would need more information, but even if he told her everything who would believe her? Last time no one did.

Brie hoped that Boleman would follow through on his promise to obtain permission for her to see Amy, but she didn’t trust him anymore. She didn’t know if she ever really did, but there was something different about him this last time. He was cold, calculating, insistent. Another Tribunal would have made sense but there was no way that he would allow it. The whole thing had seemed so strange.

Most important, though, was Amy’s recovery. Brie would have gladly traded her life for Amy to recover. She had signed away two to ten yahrens of it at a chance to see her. Tired of always sitting on the bed, Brie sat down on the floor in a corner of her cell to think.

[Skyler]

When Skyler left Brie's cell he needed to blow off some steam, to rip something.... no someone apart. The Blackshirt that had tried to start something before, was looking almost gleeful at Skyler as he exited the cell block, but quickly turned his attention back to some unknown task as Skyler fixed an icey stare on him. Skyler was looking for any subsitute for the only thing in his life he now hated more than Cylons.... Pierce!

Knowing he couldn't do anything for Brie if he found his way into the Brig, he turned and headed to the Sims. A quick stop by a unused computer terminal, search through personnel records.... yep... insert disk, download.... got it. He entered the empty sim room, pulled up the training programs and downloaded the new info. Once he had the Viper online, he entered a few commands on his knee board and the sim started. Nothing unusal at first, then the raiders shimmered out and were replaced by Pierce's mug shot from his records.

"I could get in to so much trouble for this" he mumbled under his breath "but the office funiture has about all it can take." as he got to work, taking way to much perverse pleasure watching the image of Pierce explode with each laser hit. "Might have to save this to a special training program for Brie's sessions in here"

Half a centar and 375 Peirce kills later, his pager went off...... "What the Frack!!!!" the text message simply read.... Amy. Lanzant alive.....

Jumping from the sim Viper throwing his helm into the empty seat he set off to find out if this was a sick joke, or the truth, and if so, to get Brie out of the Brig.

[Logan]

Logan was sitting in the Officer's Club having a drink with Wraith, Ike and Brik. She noted with some amusement that Ike and Brik were finally being allowed to enjoy their milk and cookies.
Wraith kept giving her strange looks over her earlier comments about Brie but had stopped asking questions. She knew the moment they were alone he'd start back in, but for now he had given up.
Several Warriors entered talking loudly, making animated gestures and their conversation carried to the table.
"Can't believe it. She's sure to get off."
"But what if she doesn't make it? Could make things worse for the Major."
"Worse? It proves the Major's innocent."
This last came from a Warrior that Logan was passingly familiar with, Stokes. She called him over to see what all the fuss was about. "Hey, Stokes. What's all the uproar?"
Stokes smiled as he walked over. "Haven't you heard, Logan? They just came in from the Galactica on a Cylon ship. Captains Lazant and Amy. They're alive."
Ike almost choked on his glass of milk, but recovered quickly. "Frack! You're serious?"
"Yep. They survived, although Amy is in critical condition and they've shipped her to the medlab. Not sure if she's gonna make it. Lazant's fine. Kind of changes things for Major Brie, don't you think?"
Wraith and Logan exchanged a look. They were both thinking the same thing...this was good news for Brie and for Skyler. Then Logan had another thought. She stood to leave.
Brik stopped her, "Where you going, Logan?"
"Someone's got to tell Skyler, don't they?" Wraith rose to join her, but she placed her hand on his arm. "You stay and enjoy your drink with Ike and Brik. I'd like to do this alone, if you don't mind."
Wraith raised his eyebrow, but didn't argue. He knew her well enough to know that look on her face broached no argument. He nodded and squeezed her hand," I'll see you later." Logan knew that meant he expected her to explain herself later.
She headed for the door as Stokes took her empty chair and went into answering questions from her friends. As she exited she almost ran into the person entering the O Club. It was Opposer Pierce. She started to walk past, muttering an excuse me when she heard him say," Aren't you Lt. Logan?"
She came up short and looked at him. "Yes?"
"Pardon the interruption, you seem to be in a hurry, but I thought you looked familiar. Didn't you transfer from the Galactica recently?" His beady eyes were gazing intently at Logan, a friendly smile crossing his face.
"Yes, I did. Do I know you?"
"Oh, forgive me. How rude I must seem. I'm Opposer Pierce...from the Galactica also. I was just stopping by for a drink. It's been a trying time, as you can imagine. I know I'm not very popular with you Warriors, especially those in Gold Squadron, but..." He stopped, as if expecting something.
She gave it to him. "You were just doing your job." Logan saw out of the corner of her eye that Wraith was watching them, closely, eyes narrowed. Before he had a chance to get up and come over, Logan turned and started down the corridor. Pierce followed her, the doors closing behind them.
"I thought you were going for a drink?," Logan asked as she walked.
"Perhaps another time. There were an abundance of Warriors present and I didn't want there to be a scene," he said.
"I understand," Logan muttered. "And don't mind them. Colonial Warriors are generally like a herd of ovine. They stick together...whether it makes sense or not." She seemed to be talking to herself more than to Pierce.
Pierce seemed to be sizing her up. "But, you're different?," he asked.
She stopped and looked at him. He seemed to be merely interested in her comment, but his eyes told a different story. Logan was a good Pyramid player, because she knew how to read people's eyes when the rest of their features told nothing. He was fishing and she knew it.
"I look out for myself. Always have." Logan stared off for a micron as if deep in thought. Pierce waited for her to say something. She seemed to come back to the present and shook her head. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

[Brie]

After the meeting in which the charges were modified Boleman asked Major Buellah to meet him for a centon or two. After they were both satisfied that the room contained no listening devices Boleman spoke. “Do you have any idea how much longer?”

Buellah shook his head. “No. I promise, if I find out I’ll let you know, probably by coded message.”

“It’s not fair,” Boleman said.

“Not at all,” Buellah agreed, “but we just do what we’re told. When it’s over though, everyone will understand. Who knows, we might even be looked at as heroes!”

“I doubt that,” Boleman replied. “There’s going to be A LOT of explaining to do, especially to the warriors.”

Buellah put a hand on Boleman’s shoulder. “Anything that makes for a better life for the people of the fleet is worth it. Keep telling yourself that.”

Boleman nodded. There was nothing else to say. They knew that they shouldn’t be seen leaving together so Major Buellah left first. Boleman left a few centons later, heading in the opposite direction.