Word Count: 3,714
Date: 2004
Series: N/A
Rating: T
Category: Character
Pairing/Focus: Lee
Warnings:
Summary:
Spoilers/Disclaimers: Miniseries
There are very few secrets aboard a Battlestar. I have a couple. I knew Lee Adama before he joined the crew on Judgment Day. I decided not to tell anyone once I made him lead pilot. He’s not going to tell anyone. Yes, his father is my best friend. And yes, I wanted to beat some sense into him, for the insane way he’d been acting toward his father. But I was so damn glad to see him alive when he arrived with the civilian fleet. I forgave him instantly.
I was very surprised when he asked for two disaster pods for “us” and “we have sick and wounded.” What do you mean you’re military? More precisely you belong with your father and me, I think to myself. Then I realize he’s saying you can do it trust “me”. Give them two disaster pods for “me”. OK. I’ll trust you. But I’m going to protect myself. I tell him that they can have the disaster pods because he’s the old mans son and he’ll be so damn glad that you’re alive. I know that this is will be very hard to take. Lee has never taken anything for himself based on his parentage. I don’t know if he realizes it but to protect his own or do what he thinks is “the right thing” he’s as determined and creative in his methods as his father. Now that the Galactica is protecting the fleet I’m glad I gave them the disaster pods.
I’m also one of two people alive who know how Lee Adama got the call sign Apollo. I remember the summer fifteen years ago, when I got to know Lee Adama. His father had been seriously injured in combat.
I’m waiting at the Picon Airport to meet Will’s family. I’ve arranged for housing. I’ll help them get settled and then take them to the hospital to see Will. Will and Caroline have been divorced about five years. Caroline had been unwilling to be separated from her sons, so Will had been spending his leaves at the family home on Caprica. Caroline has agreed to bring the boys to Picon to visit their father. But Will was going to have to face this debilitating injury on his own.
Never having children of my own, I got vicarious satisfaction hearing about Will’s sons. Will had reason to be proud of each. They were much more polite and well behaved than any child I could have fathered. Zak was Will’s son charming, bright, and athletic. Lee was intellectually gifted, small, and agile. Zak regularly received awards for team athletics and usually got honors in his academic classes. He always received highest honors and had started taking university advanced placement courses. Lee excelled in sports that relied on speed, agility and strategy.
I see them as they pass through security.
Zak runs forward to greet me. “Hello Captain Tigh.”
“Hi Zak, have a good flight?” I reply.
He is the image of his father. He’s large for his age and it’s easy to see the man he will become. He’s dark, and has his father’s smile.
Every man is looking as Caroline Adama approaches. She’s a classic Caprican beauty; long reddish blond hair, high cheekbones, big blue eyes, light flawless complexion and slight graceful build. When she smiles at me, I forget I was talking to Zak and don’t hear the details of the flight. Lee looks like his mother. He is small for his age and simply seems a suitable accessory to his mother. After the usual hellos, Lee announces that he and Zak will go get the checked bags.
As we bring the car around to pick up the bags and the boys. Caroline and I discuss Will’s condition. Will’s face and right shoulder have been seriously damaged by a contact sonic missile. Contact sonic missiles were the cost effective anti personnel weapon of the inter-colony war. Inexpensive, tiny lightweight missiles targeted the electronic emissions from cockpits. On contact or with a delay a pulse would be sent out that would turn the canopy of a ship and the helmet visor into millions of tiny splinters. Pilots, flight crew and maintenance crew members who survived were hit with so many shards it took tens of operations over several of years to remove them. In some cases family members could help by being trained to remove some of the splinters, shortening the recovery period.
“Saul, Tell me what to expect. Should I just let the boys see their father? I’m very worried,” Caroline asks.
“Caroline, Will is recovering. He’s alert and needs to see you and the boys. Bandages cover most of his face. You’ve come this far don’t stop now,” I say.
As we travel to the hospital I do my best to be optimistic. I remind them that Will had underground surgeries to remove the splinters that might blind, or permanently damage his ability to speak. He is out of danger. He would be able to see. I remind them that the treatment was not complete and he would get better.
Caroline and Zak were paralyzed at the sight of Will. I can’t say I blame them. He was in very tough shape. Hundreds of remaining splinters prohibited him from opening his left eye. He could partially open his right. Swelling prevented him from speaking clearly. His face wasn’t recognizable. It’s a very uncomfortable twenty minutes. Caroline and Zak pull away when Will tries to hug them. Lee comes forward to be hugged, but then hangs back. The conversation is polite but silted. Will, Caroline and Zak do most of the talking. Caroline announces that she wants to go get settled in her room. I volunteer to drive them.
“I’m staying. I’ll take the shuttle, Mom,” Lee says.
Everyone is surprised.
“Lee, come with me. Your father needs to rest and so do you. You could get lost if you take the shuttle?” Caroline says.
“I’ll just read to Dad, I’ll leave when he falls asleep. I’ve used the shuttle before and know where we are staying. Don’t worry Mom, I’ll call you when I leave so you’ll know when to expect me,” Lee replies in a very soft voice which shows none of its usual nervousness.
“I’ll come back to get him Caroline,” I say quickly. I know this visit must have been hard on Will. He’ll tell Lee to go with his mother given a chance. Will needs the attention Lee is offering.
Without further discussion Lee sits by his father’s bedside and starts to read the front page of today’s newspaper to his father. Will visibly relaxes as Lee starts to read. Caroline let’s Lee stay. I will come back and get him.
This is how it started. Lee wouldn’t leave his father. I’d always thought of Lee as his mother’s child. I was surprised when he stubbornly insisted on staying with Will. Will is still awake when I return for Lee. Lee has been asking his father detailed questions about his health. What surgeries had been completed? What was planned? Lee doesn’t seem overwhelmed by his father’s appearance. It seemed that Lee had little trouble understanding his father. He repeated his father answer’s a couple of times to make sure that he understood.
“Dad, I need to go or Mom will worry. See you tomorrow,” Lee says squeezing his dad’s good shoulder.
On the way back to family guest quarters Lee thanks me for coming and getting him.
“Sir, Mom and Zak aren’t ready to see dad so sick. I needed to talk to him alone to get some idea of how he is really feeling. He would never admit to being hurt or weak in front of them. I had to ask him indirectly how he is feeling. He’s in a lot of pain. Thank you for sticking by him,” Lee says. I’m amazed at how adult and knowing he sounds.
Lee uses the shuttle to visit his father in the morning and returns to his mother for lunch. The three of them visit in the afternoon. Lee stays after Caroline and his brother leave.
When not at his father’s bedside, Lee is using the computer. At first I thought he was addicted to computer games. Given the stress he was under it seems a safe enough outlet. Later I would realize that Lee was manipulating the militaries systems to qualify for the family splinter removal program. Colonial military’s “Accomplishment System” is infamous. With twelve major planets time, length of days, days in a year vary. Maturity rates and life spans vary between sub groups of citizens. The military has developed a complex testing system based on accomplishment to equalize opportunity amongst all the colonies citizens. So instead of age as a requirement, there are standardized judgment, logic, and ethics exams, and educational levels. Lee’s intensive education and the militaries policy allow him to he apply for the program without telling anyone his age. In order to actually become trained, the family member must pass computer-based tests on sterile procedure, anatomy, pain and stress management. In addition to the academic tests, candidates had to pass manual dexterity test. This is supposed to be a fairly long learning period in which candidates are tutored by their injured family members medical team. Within three days Lee is officially certified for the program with some of the highest test scores recorded.
“Mom, I’ve found a course about Dad’s type of injury. It’s free. Can I go?” Lee asks.
“Yes, Sweetie, It might make you feel better, if you know more about what’s happening to your father,” Caroline says.
Military educators train their students they don’t second-guess the wisdom of the selection process. It was clearly inappropriate to train a child, but thirteen-year-old Lee was officially qualified to aid in his father’s recovery.
Once he has been fully certified, he let’s his father in on his plan. Will and Caroline say “No”. They try to explain to Lee that he isn’t mature enough. He’s too young to understand how hard it is to take care of someone when they are ill. He needs to be with his mother and brother. He can’t stay he’ll be alone. There will be no one to play with.
Will’s Doctor tries to talk to the boy. He’s the first adult to blink. After talking to Lee for more than an hour, the doctor says that Lee has the skills to do the procedure. Isn’t there some other family member who could stay with the boy?
Lee makes it clear what he needed to do might be hard but leaving his father was impossible. He understood that his dad was sick. He understood how much care and patience was involved in actually performing the procedure. He understood that he would miss his mother, Zak and his friends.
“Let me try?” he asked. “Let me try today. If I can’t do it, I’ll go.”
His mother agrees that he can try. I don’t know whether she thought he would fail or she still cared for Will enough to allow Lee to make the sacrifice. Lee proves to both his father and the doctor that he can perform the procedure. Caroline and Zak hated to leave Lee. No kid should have done what Lee did for his father. But how could Will say no to a chance at a quicker recovery.
Will and Lee would stay in base temporary family housing for two months. Will had me buy Lee a bike so he could get some exercise, fresh air and go to the store. They hired a cleaning service but they had to handle the day-to-day household on their own. Will told me that Lee had been helping his mother fix dinner at home, so Lee could do coffee, sandwiches, toast, salad and reheat frozen or takeout food. Lee had chores at home. He simply had more chores for the summer.
Twice a day they would have a splinter removing session. I figured Husker could handle just about anything. I was really amazed at how much control the kid had. Lee had to use sterile technique. He had to remove splinters with out further damaging his father’s ravaged face. He had to handle seeing his father disfigured and in pain. Lee had to live with causing his dad pain whenever he removed splinters.
Lee is very bright. His father wasn’t surprised when Lee developed a computer model of his face neck and shoulder. Based on the blast pattern density, Frak, every tiny thing about the bomb, the visor, and the canopy; Lee could predict the location and angle of entry of splinters. He saved the shards so he could refine the model. The kid got literature that showed where the pain receptors on the face are located so he could balance the sessions to keep down his dad’s discomfort. The doctor’s were amazed at the progress. Lee has his dad’s hand-eye coordination and applied it to splinter removal. After the first two weeks the doctor’s gave Lee a more sophisticated magnification device so he was essentially performing microsurgery. Short, frequent removal sessions were ideal. Unfortunately the Colonies didn’t have the resources to provide this level of treatment for injured warriors.
When Will asked me to get the kid out of the house I was more than happy to do it. I really enjoyed my time with Lee. I didn’t tell his father that I was letting Lee use the flight simulator.
I’d pick the kid up after work. I used my service ID number and his fathers to book flight simulator time. Colonel Adama was officially recuperating. Time on the simulator was still available to him. I was riding a desk so I needed to use the simulator and book flight time. Because I had something to do, I wasn’t drinking.
He was amazing in the simulator. I thought his younger brother; Zak would have been a natural pilot. Zak was so much like his dad in appearance and temperament. Zak seemed to be the more outgoing, athletic and daring son.
Lee expected to love flying. He obviously inherited his father’s ability. Had been listening to his dad, his great uncle and me talk tactics, tricks, and traps his whole life. He was a kid playing not an adult under pressure to perform. Rapidly, I found myself with a dangerous opponent, if I competed directly against him. It was very much like using the flight simulator with his dad. Lee did not know how to take off or land. He knew how to maneuver, fire, launch missiles, and use celestial objects to his tactical advantage. He had his dad’s magic going when it came to predicting the enemy’s next move. I really enjoyed these sessions.
Given Will’s rank I didn’t think any one was likely to interrupt. Will had the reputation for being the best living viper pilot. If I’d thought it through, I should have known some egotistical ass would come along to challenge Husker. I had Lee set up in one simulator using his father’s ID and call sign; I was about to enter my simulator when I felt a hand on my shoulder. ”I’m taking this ride. You can take CIC, if you want,” she announces. She brushes past me giving me no chance to tell her that Will Adama isn’t in the other simulator.
While she’s setting-up her preflight simulation, I call Lee and let him know Colonial Liz “Artemis” Shane is taking my place. Wouldn’t you know he’s a kid playing a game? He’s excited to flying against the most famous female viper pilot. He starts asking me a bunch of questions about her style. I’d have trouble answering these kinds of questions about my own flying style let alone someone I haven’t served with. I am able to tell him her past Battlestars and many of her major battles.
Lee has knocked her out of the sky twice. She is using language that Lee Adama certainly is not allowed to use and may not know. She demands one more chance.
The simulated static and Lee’s attempt to imitate his father’s voice apparently have her fooled. “I’m expected for dinner and I promised to practice with Tigh.” Lee says in his best Husker voice. The depth is off, but cadence and intonation is excellent.
She purrs, “Please once more I promise to make it worth your while?”
“Captain Tigh, Do I have your permission to accommodated Artemis?” Lee asks. I know he is seriously asking permission. She takes it as good-natured kidding.
“Permission to carry on,” I reply.
It’s a long session. I thought she had him a couple times. But he anticipated her moves. Finally he uses a moon’s gravity to slow her down enough to get a clean shot. It’s been an exciting a match. I hope she stalks off in a huff, but I’m wrong. She doesn’t bother to shut down her simulation. She heads straight for ‘Husker’. She removes her helmet as she crosses the room. After properly ending his simulation program, Lee has released his canopy but is still removing his helmet. She has her target. She doesn’t notice that this “Husker” is about five feet tall and maybe ninety pounds. She helps him with his helmet. She has his chin in one hand before she stops.
“Well what do we have here?” she asks in surprise.
“Good Evening Ma’am, I’m Lee Adama. Thank you for a very exciting evening,” Lee says with excited innocence.
“Where is Husker Adama?” she says in calm fury. Artemis has a reputation as a groundbreaker as one of the first great woman viper pilot. Paving the way for other women to have an equal opportunity as pilots. She ability as a pilot is the only slightly exceeds the ferocity of her temper if crossed.
“Ma’am, my father is resting in our quarters. He is recuperating from injuries he received in combat,” Lee says.
“You certainly were pretty child, before I had to killed you,” Artemis says but the fury is gone. Now that she is reminded that Will has been injured.
”Ma’am, I take it discretion is the issue,” Lee says. I’m surprised that Lee is not taking offence at being called pretty. He’s apparently aware that I could be in a difficult position if Shane reported that I permitted a child to use a flight simulator.
“Yes, Little one that’s the issue,” Artemis replies with a hint of a smile.
“Captain Tigh can’t say anything without explaining why he permitted me to use military equipment. I’m a kid no one talks to me,” Lee says to reassure her. Lee is very sensitive about his size. He’s gotten into more than one fight in school when teased about his size or his pretty looks. I’m very happy his controlling his temper.
“Well that helps, but it’s not enough,” She says.
Lee says after some consideration, “We could make a pact. My father told me if I kiss a girl or a woman the experience belongs to both of us and I can’t talk about. I can’t kiss and tell. Ma’am.”
“Oh is that so,” she says as leans down and gives him a kiss on the mouth.
“Yes Ma’am, Thank you Ma’am.” Lee says in a whisper. He is totally crimson. I’m thinking who says Lee Adama isn’t charming.
“Lee what is your military dependent ID number?” She asks. Lee politely replies. I’m momentarily concerned about Shane’s plans.
“I’m going to delete tonight’s session. In the future Captain Tigh you will use Lee’s military dependent ID number when using the simulator. I will create an account with the call sign ‘Apollo’. Tigh, you are responsible. If I hear a word of this I’ll come after you,” She says as she turns her back on us. Colonel Shane is currently responsible for all flight training systems and flight training curriculum. She has the authority to create accounts and allocate flight simulation resources.
I wait until we are in the vehicle before I say, “I can hardly wait to see the look on your father face when I tell him you beat Artemis He’ll be so proud when I tell him that she gave you the call sign Apollo. Lee, Did you know that Apollo was a god. His twin sister was named Artemis. She admitted the you’re as good as she.”
“Sir, I promised. Can we have a secret?” he asks very seriously. I nod. The boy is all Adama.
In eight weeks Will’s face was pretty much splinter free. There were shards that need a trained surgeon to remove. A single operation has been scheduled. Even now fifteen years later a stray splinter will need it removed. Yes, Will has scars, but he looks like himself. Will recovered in months not years. He could transition from viper pilot and CAG to ships commander. Lee really stuck by his dad when he needed him most.
Both Will and I knew that Lee had wanted his dad to get a planet side posting, so he could spend time with his father. But even though he would never fly a viper again Will needed to be in space. Will was back in space two months after Lee returned to school. A few months later I hear from Will. He’s doing well. It’s not flying but its challenging work. Lee has been acting up. He’s been in fights. He is refusing to write a weekly letter to his father. Will caulks it up to adolescence, he’ll grow out of it.
Once the military issues an individual an ID number it follows them for life. Lee’s dependant ID number became his service number when he entered the academy. Making sure call signs are unique is handled through the integrated flight status system. Which is linked to the flight simulation network. When Artemis created an account using his dependant ID number and the call sign Apollo, she fixed Lee’s call sign as Apollo permanently. When Lee Adama makes a promise he keeps it. He has never told any one how he got his call sign.