Part 2: Battlestar Galactica, Dawn: Collision

Chapter 9

IX

Rebecca hadn't been on a Baseship in years, but she still knew it like the back of her hand. She had landed Bulldog's escape vessel in the hangar area where the more badly damaged fighters went when their alcove couldn't be used. Galactica's hangar deck people had put extra scoring on the hull and even had ripped off about half her starboard wing, to make it look like this Raider had taken a beating from the UED fighters. Her ship wasn't the only one in the hangar, so she looked like just another damaged Raider after a fierce battle.

It would be another day or so before the Raiders were repaired. Repairs to the ship came first, and the fighters second. Until the ship was deemed sound the fighters that were damaged could wait a few days. She had waited til they had jumped away from Earth and allowed her surroundings to die down before she made her escape. All the Raiders were "asleep", as it were, so if there were no Centurions or Humanoid Cylons around she could make her way to the spot Caprica had designated for her to hide in.

There were very few skin jobs left, if any. Caprica had bet that there were at least a few and that they would spend most of their time in Central Command or in their quarters. Each Cylon model had their own quartered areas, so the areas where the Sixes would have normally lived were probably empty. She could hide there without detection until the time came.

That time would be when this Baseship jumped back to earth, to begin another attack against Galactica, Pegasus, and Earth. Then Operation Bulldog would be implemented.

Dr. Baltar had implanted a small computer chip in her left wrist, just below the back of her hand. On one end was a connection port. When she was ready she would open a small incision so she could get to the port, then connect an insulated coupling into her wrist. From there, she would insert another insulated end directly into the data flow where the Hybrid lay. If all went well, shortly after that, the Hybrid would, unbeknownst to anyone, send out instructions that would play havoc with the vision of the Baseships, the Raiders, and missiles.

She carried no second thoughts about this mission. She did appreciate the irony of the whole thing. A Cylon trying to destroy the last of the Cylon race. Cylons were created with a ready-made hatred for Human Beings. But for all the hatred that had been instilled in her towards humans, she had learned that humanity had far more redeeming qualities than her own people, perfect as they thought they were. They loved in a way Cylons never could; felt in a way that Cylons never could; cherished life in a way Cylons couldn't.

She had been looked on suspiciously when she first had come aboard Galactica as part of the work team trying to repair her with the organic Cylon resin. But as time went by she began to make friends with many of the humans on Galactica. Some meant a lot to her. She had even enjoyed a long romantic relationship with a Human male. The last war, Rebecca finally realized, had been a mistake. In trying to destroy humanity she had come to realize the Cylons were also destroying themselves. Like others, she had found the journey to the other Earth when it seemed that the gods, or God, or Fate, or Laura Roslin had made it clear that Cylon and Human were inextricably linked and that their destinies were one and the same, to be the defining moment of clarity in her life.

She had welcomed mortality. After being resurrected seven times she saw nothing that was intrinsically valuable about a life that never ended. It was one of her sister Sixes who had said before the Quorum: "To live meaningful lives, we must die and not return. The one human flaw that you spend your lifetimes distressing over... mortality...is the one thing... well, it's the one thing that makes you whole." Rebecca had embraced that with all her being.

She couldn't go back. She would never see Caprica, or Adama or any of her human friends again. She truly loved those people she was leaving behind and knew her mission would give them a chance to win the war. She knew that going in and had volunteered anyway. She didn't see what she was doing as a betrayal of her race but as an affirmation of her belief that her life had some meaning beyond herself.