Free 01 - Battlestar Galactica by Jeffrey A. Carver - (ebook by Undead) Page A

life had gone so
terribly wrong.

 
 
CHAPTER
12
     
     
    Master Bedroom of Gaius Baltar
     
    Baltar sat rigidly in his upholstered reading chair and tried to keep his
thoughts on a rational, safe, analytical level. Which was very hard to do, given
what he had just been told. “So… now you’re telling me… now you’re telling
me you’re a machine.”
    Natasi sat in his recliner, a few arm-lengths away, her bare legs
outstretched on the raised foot of the chair. She crossed her legs, and he could
not help but follow the movement with his eyes. “I’m a woman,” she said.
    “You’re a machine.” He let out a frustrated breath. “You’re a synthetic
woman. A robot.” He let out another breath, which sounded like a laugh but was a
cry of pain. I’ve been sleeping with a robot. A Cylon. No, that is not
possible.
    She calmly answered, “I’ve said it three times now.”
    His answer was anything but calm. “Well, forgive me, I’m having the tiniest
bit of trouble believing that, especially since the last time anyone saw the
Cylons they looked like walking chrome toasters.”
    “Those models are still around,” she said dismissively. “They have their
uses.”
    He looked away, looked back. “Prove it,” he said. “If you’re a Cylon, prove
it to me right now.”
    “I don’t have to. You know I’m telling the truth.”
    Do I know that? I know nothing of the kind! Flustered, Baltar struggled
to bring himself back to the analytical state of mind that he prided himself on
being able to achieve. He failed. But he argued nonetheless. “You see—stating
something as the truth does not make it so, because the truth is, I don’t
believe anything you’re saying—”
    She leaned forward. “You believe me because deep down you’ve always known
there was something different about me, something that didn’t quite add up in
the usual way.” A coy grin played at the corners of her mouth. “And you believe me, because it flatters your ego to believe that alone among
all the billions of people of the Twelve Colonies, you were chosen for my
mission.”
    That sent a shock through his system. “Your mission? What mission?”
    “You knew I wanted access to the Defense mainframe.”
    His heart nearly stopped. “Def… wait a minute. The Defense
mainframe?” A terrible ringing was starting in his ears. He could hardly
think, and could not breathe. “What exactly are you saying?”
    “Come on, Gaius.” Her delight in her accomplishment spread across her face.
“The communications frequencies, deployment schedules, unlimited access to every
database…”
    The ringing was growing louder. “Stop it!” Baltar shouted. “Stop it right
now!”
    She smiled seductively. “You never really believed I worked for some
mysterious ‘company’ either—but you didn’t really care.”
    “No! That’s not—”
    “All that really mattered was that only you could give me that kind of
access. You were special, you knew you were. And powerful…”
    “Oh my God!” Baltar jumped to his feet and walked slowly away from her,
as he absorbed the full enormity of what he had done. He turned and spoke as
forcefully as he could. “I had nothing to do with this! You know I
had nothing to do with this!”
    Natasi got up, shaking her head with a smile. “You have an amazing capacity
for self-deception. How do you do that?” She walked toward him, and she
had never looked so sexy—or so frightening.
    Baltar could feel panic rising like bile in his throat. “How many people know
about me? About me—specifically? That I’m involved?”
    “And even now,” she said, touching his chest seductively, her voice low and
sultry, “as the fate of your entire world hangs in the balance, all you
can think about is how this affects you.”
    “Do you have any idea what they’ll do to me, if they find out?” he cried.
    “They’d probably charge you with treason.”
    “Treason is punishable by the death penalty.” His