Heat was being restored to the ship, quarters were becoming available, but there were still crewmen sleeping on the galley floor, albeit substantially less. Captain Reeves was curled up in his usual place in a corner of the room when Lieutenant Lapointe ran into the room, roughly shook the slumbering captain and informed him about the accident. “Sir, Cain has been shot, and you got to get up now before the Colonel shoots Forester.”
Groggy and confused, Reeves stood up, attempting to make sense of what he was hearing, while Lapointe dragged him by the arm towards medical. With a stumble the captain followed and together the two ran down the hallway. The passageway to medical revealed their intended destination; Colonel Bridgeford and two marines filled the doorway weapons drawn. Their attentions were on the commotion inside the room and as the two out-of-breath officers approached they could hear yelling from inside. “You’re lying! You won’t even look at her!” The voice was obviously a distressed chief Forester. The Colonel was responding in a commanding tone trying to gain control over the situation, “Son put the gun down! I know what you’re going through!”
Reeves finally arrived and stood beside the old marine. Looking into the room he could see the chief had a gun pointed at the doctor’s head and demanding he treat Alana Cain. “You want to save Ford and not her!” As Reeves observed the scene, perplexed about what he should say or do, Admiral Hallis arrived and demanded to know why the Colonel had not rectified the situation. “My marines; my call,” was the old warrior’s response and Hallis’ eyes glowed with anger, but he refrained from further speaking. Silent until this moment, the doctor finally spoke.
“Ford is a frak up! But I can’t treat her because she’s already dead. Shoot me or let me help the others!” Chief Forester started to gasp and pointed the gun first at himself, then back at Lewellyn. With options disappearing, Bridgeford seized the opportunity. And as he gave the command to “take him down”, Reeves pushed past the marines and into the line of fire, calling out his friend’s name, “Julian! Julian!” The sound of his companion’s voice broke through and the chief looked in the direction of its source. “Jules, it’s me Scott. Please put the gun down.”
Registering his friend’s face, the emotional man, crumpled into him, let the weapon fall from his hand to the floor and sobbed like a child. “She was my wife. He murdered my wife…” Reeves wrapped his arms around the man and gently lead him out of the room. The Admiral stared coldly at the Captain and spat the words out to take the man to the brig.
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“I’m not interested in felter carb. What’s the body count?” The admiral’s face conveyed no emotion as he sat behind his desk with his hands folded and looking up at the colonel. “1 dead, 4 wounded and Ford was the worst. They are all expected to live.” Hallis breathed in deeply and slowly let it out as he looked at the marine commander and spoke slowly, “Your marines, your call and my ship!” Bridgeford was equally cold in his response pointing out that although they were at his disposal, they were from different branches of the military and any ability to command them was conveyed through him.The admiral cracked his neck and spoke again, “Fair enough, but I have a problem integrating 2 crews on this ship and I don’t need a third to really frak things up. Next time a man pulls a gun on another crewmen, you immediately take him down. Understood?” As the Colonel acknowledged his understanding of the command, there was a knock at the door. Ignoring the interruption, the two men stared hard at each other.
Until a second tapping at the door was followed by Hallis and Captain Reeves walked into the room. “You told me the cylons were deactivated.” The old man’s mood was evidently foul and he wasn’t relenting in regaining order over his ship. Reeves attempted to stand straighter and cleared his throat as he spoke, “Sir, chief Forester and I personally removed anything that remotely looked like a power cell in the centurions. I have since had them dismembered.”
The admiral thumbed his rank insignia and contemplated removing it for a moment but decided that it wouldn’t further anything at this time. Instead he asked one question, “wife?” Sweat poured down Reeves’ cheek and his voice cracked as he attempted to explain. “Yes sir, umm…” He attempted to continue. “5 years ago, I performed the ceremony. We didn’t go through the regulatory procedures because that might have meant one of them would be reassigned. I’m sorry sir, but everything was different in the yard.” Hallis bared his teeth and yelled that this was no longer the junk pile and he has a dead officer as proof.
Another knock occurred and admiral Hallis finished his statement telling whoever it was to enter. Mr. Lapointe opened the door and informed everyone that the doctor was now available to talk. Without a word, Hallis and Bridgeford got up and walked out toward the operating room. The captain attempted to follow but was stopped by the X.O. and Reeves softly pleaded, “Sir, she was like family. I knew her for almost 10 years.” As the Admiral continued to walk ahead, the Colonel gave his consent by removing the side arm of captain Reeves, ushering him to walk ahead and demanding an end to the drama.
An exhausted doctor stood in his medical office, still wearing the blood stained clothing from the operations he had recently performed. The smell of ether and a crude disinfectant permeated the air. “If you are thinking of smoking, don’t do it. The anaesthetic was distilled out of lord knows what and I’m certain it could blow us all to hell. I had to operate with bodies half awake and twitching. Not to mention, pocket knives would have been better scalpels.” No one responded to Lewellyn’s comments and just kept looking at him waiting useful information.
“Oookaay…” “Of the 4 wounded, 3 were minor with shots to the legs and arms. Only major Ford was critical, he took two shots in the gut, lost both kidneys and a lot of blood. Fortunately the deceased lieutenant was a close enough match that I transplanted hers. Colonel Bridgeford snorted in disgust at the thought that Ford caused Cain’s death and she still saved his. “There is one thing you need to know. I found dope in the Major’s pocket, several buds of a herbal substance.” The Admiral closed and pursed his lips as the full extent of major Ford’s crime set in his mind. He unbuckled the clasp on hisholster and ordered captain Lewellyn to wake the man but the doctor quickly began yelling and stood in front of admiral Hallis. “Hey! I just spent 17 hours saving a man’s life!”
The old man looked at the medical officer without emotion and the doctor placed his hand on the admiral’s chest. “Dave, you know regulations prohibit you executing a man while he is under my care.” Nodding slightly, Hallis handed his side arm to the Colonel, restated his order to wake Ford and walked into the recovery room. Entering the room the 4 men observed the instigator of the problems sleeping peacefully.
It left a distinct taste of disgust in the mouths of all but the doctor. The admiral was the only one to talk, “Get him up, now!” Lewellyn began to protest that giving him stimulants could be dangerous but Hallis growled at him, “Give the addict some fraking crap and wake him now.” With a sigh and consent the doctor prepared a syringe and administrated the concoction. The major’s eyes began to open and he slowly became aware of his surroundings. As Ford acknowledged the presence of his commanding officer, admiral Hallis began his verbal assault. “You put the gun in the enemy’s hand and caused the death of another officer. As far as I am concerned you’re a murderer, just as if you pulled the trigger yourself, captain.” Groggily, the recovering man attempted to correct the error in his rank.
As the Admiral clenched his fists, the Colonel held forward a gun and commented that he wasn’t worth keeping alive. After a pause for reflection Admiral Hallis continued, “Sorry, Lieutenant. During a time of war my power is damn near absolute and it is only out of respect for the doctor that I don’t execute you. But when we get back to Colonial space, I will make certain you rot in the worst prison I can find.” Although still clouded by sleep, Lieutenant Ford had the reality of the situation setting into his mind and as a tear streamed down his face, he was given his interim punishment. “You’re duties will be limited to supervising the enlisted men. Everyday you are going to have to deal with those that know you killed one of their own and then when you are done you will return to the brig. And you are to avoid chief Forester at all costs, I don’t care if you need to crawl under a pile of scrap, don’t let him see you, hear you or even smell your presence.”
The recently demoted officer attempted to mutter his acknowledgement but was unable to create the sounds, instead the only thing anyone heard was the heavy breathing of the ship’s old man as he stared ruthlessly at what he considered was human garbage. Colonel Bridgeford touched him on the shoulder to get him to leave but he wasn’t finished. “For your information, lieutenant Alana Cain and chief Julian Forester had every right to frak. You didn’t just cause the death of a fellow soldier; you killed a man’s wife.” With nothing more to say he turned on his heel and walked toward the door followed by Bridgeford and the doctor.
Reeves, however, remained looking at the man in the bed. His two superiors stopped, looked back and the old marine did a double check to make certain he had the captain’s weapon. With complete contempt, Captain Reeves spoke, “I’ve known Julian for over 10 years and you better pray that he never finds out that Alana was pregnant. Because nothing will stop him.” Admiral Hallis looked at Lewellyn, shook his head and slowly repeated a statement the doctor had once said to him, “Unless of course it involves civilians and then your authority over-rules even mine.” Doctor Lewellyn nodded his head and mumbled she was ordered to eat to prevent a miscarriage. And Bridgeford likewise commented that explained why others were sneaking her food. As these revelations were made, the Captain joined them and the three commanding officers left medical.
The men walked some distance, in silence, down the corridor away from sickbay. The Admiral was quietly fuming, grinding his teeth together as they proceeded, until suddenly he abruptly halted. Reeves and Bridgeford did the same and both men waited for Hallis to say something. Without loosing the cold and angry stare that he had worn on his face since this incident occurred, admiral Hallis removed his rank from his uniform and handed it to the colonel. “For the next 2 minutes you have total command of this ship.”
Having done so, he unexpectedly turned, and drove his fist into the face of captain Reeves with such ferocity that it sent the man spinning, first into the bulkhead and second to the ground. His voice bellowed with his rage as he verbally assaulted the Captain. “Are there any other fraking secrets I need to know!!” Blood pouring from his nose and lips, captain Reeves assured him there wasn’t. “Ford won’t be the only man I execute if there is.” Hallis punctuated his position with the last statement, and he turned to the old marine to retrieve his insignias.
However, the colonel hesitated, looked down at the bleeding officer and enquired if he wanted to pursue charges. The captain produced a piece of cloth from his pocket and brought it to his face nurse his wound. He spoke through it, “No sir.” Bridgeford looked once again making certain this was the man’s decision and received this response. “It’s been an emotional day. Sir, I guess I just wasn’t watching my step.” The marine handed back the Admiral’s property and leaving the captain sitting on the floor, the pair continued toward CIC.