03x07 - A Measure of Salvation

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Previously on Battlestar Galactica...

You cannot play God then wash your hands of the things that you've created.

Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore.

Attention all colonial units.

Cylon att*ck underway.

This is no drill.

I'll be right there.

"How? Why?" doesn't really matter now.

What does matter is that as of this moment, we are at w*r.

You're full of bile, hatred, poison.

And I'm sorry for what happened to you down there, but I gotta run a ship.

The last thing I need is a one-eyed drunk sowing discontent and disobedience.

So you can get your ass back into your quarters and not leave until you're ready to act like the man that I've known for the past 30 years.

That man doesn't exist anymore, Bill.

And you won't be seeing me again.

Is there really any place left in the universe deserving of such a rare and distinguished item?

I was thinking put it in the bathroom right over the toilet.

Excellent choice.

Oh, my gods.

Oh, Tory, come look at this.

This is the dossier that Billy prepared for me my first day aboard Galactica.

I can't believe I was about to throw this out in the trash.

The Valkyrie.

This was Adama's command before Galactica?

Mm-hmm.

Look at that.

This year marks Admiral Adama's 45th anniversary in the Colonial Fleet.

In fact, his commissioning date's only a few days from now.

Here.

I think I want to have a ceremony.

Let's give the admiral a medal for 45 years of devoted service.

Couldn't have come at a better time.

Give the people something to feel good about for a change.

This is the XO.

Set condition one throughout the ship.

I repeat, set condition one throughout the ship.

This is not a drill. What's the problem?

Three Raiders, CBDR, bearing 145, cam 33.

But this isn't their standard wedge formation.

Where's the CAP?

Starbuck and Kat will intercept in 98 seconds, sir.

It looks like a pursuit.

And there's been weapons exchange between them.

A pursuit?

Yes, sir.

We've got two Raiders... chasing a third.

Have they fired on any of ours yet?

No, sir.

What the hell are they doing?

All right, Let's see if we can climb up their asses without drawing any fire.

These two seem pretty preoccupied with the other one...

Got any idea why Cylons would be chasing Cylons?

Don't know, don't care.

But wait'll we close the gap.

I don't wanna have to chase these frakkin' things any longer than I have to.

Yeah, roger that.

Two down! One to go!

Kat, check six.

Six clear. Press.

Damn, Kat, Flank right.

This guy's headed right for Galactica.

I'm on it, sir!

Krypter Krypter Krypter!

This is Bulldog.

Get me the hell out of here.

I'm wounded! What the frak is that?

Target in range, closing in.

Krypter Krypter Krypter, this is Bulldog...

Where is that coming from?

It's the Raider, sir.

Take the frakkin' sh*t, Kat.

Gimme a sec. I almost got him lined up.

Krypter Krypter Krypter, this is Bulldog.

Kat, take the frakkin' sh*t.

Order the Vipers... hold their fire immediately.

Have them escort the Raider in.

Prisoner drill.

I want the alert guard in the hangar deck in five minutes.

Yes, sir.

All right, park that bird! Let's grab this rider!

Let's go, people! Move with a purpose!

Make some room for the marines.

Admiral.

Is it really you, sir?

Yeah...

It's me.

Welcome home, Bulldog.

We may never have this opportunity again.

I'm assuming you appreciate the consequences if you're discovered.

And you understand, Commander, that this conversation did not happen.

Are you prepared for this?

Of course, sir.

On one condition:

I need my men.

Especially for the stealth ship.

There's only one pilot I trust.

Who?

Well... the conspiracy theorists are gonna be disappointed.

We've checked your DNA signature against your m*llitary records, and it's conclusive.

You're not a Cylon.

Smoke?

That's right.

He's one of mine.

Disappeared about three years ago.

We think that he was captured.

I'd like to meet him.

Of course.

I'll arrange it.

Well... he checks out fine.

Whatever they did to him out there, they kept him fed and relatively healthy.

Physically, anyway.

I know you've been through a lot.

I realize that.

But you've gotta talk to me, Danny.

How the hell did you escape off a Cylon Baseship?

Well, sir, it's like this.

The enemy had me locked in a cell for three years.

The accommodations were lousy, the service was slow, and after awhile I felt the institution no longer had anything to offer me.

So I left.

You had me worried there for a moment.

Thought maybe the Cylons had beaten the bullshit attitude out of you.

How'd you get out?

I thought I was gonna die in there, Bill.

But a while ago, they all started getting sick.

I mean really sick.

You mean a virus.

Yeah.

We've seen that too.

I heard them say it was spreading, getting worse... but eventually I realize...

I'm not catching it.

I'm immune.

So what did you do?

I was smart... patient.

I waited.

Ah, well...

You're lookin' good.

Strong.

Me, I've felt better.

I don't know why you guys do all that exercise.

What, are you trying to stave off getting old?

Doesn't seem such a tragedy to me.

Given the alternatives.

You know what I'm saying?

Do I look that bad?

You know what I think?

I think you're afraid.

Ah!

Let me try and understand exactly what happened to you.

I'm just gonna go back a little, all right?

About a year prior to the Cylon att*ck on the Colonies, you were on a mission with Admiral Adama.

Is that correct?

It was a black ops mission.

Hmm.

You remember the Tauron colonists were such outlaws, always pushing their luck with the Admiralty every chance they got? Right.

The Taurons were drilling for tylium ore on a moon that was too close to the Cylon Armistice Line.

We knew that they had to get out of there or risk provoking the Cylons.

I'm sorry, but how did this result in his ship being sh*t down?

He was my recon pilot.

He was there to gather evidence.

The Taurons must've seen us coming, because they ambushed him.

Lieutenant Novacek was sh*t down by the Taurons in cold blood.

Krypter Krypter Krypter, I've got damage to the port engine.

Bird is down. Repeat...

Bird is down.

Request rescue.

Krypter Krypter Krypter! This is Bulldog...

Bird is down. Repeat...

Bird is down. Request rescue.

So what did you do?

I made a bad call.

His ship was gone.

No ejection on dradis.

No distress call.

He was dead.

So I left.

But the Lieutenant did eject, obviously, and somehow survived in his ejection seat long enough for the Cylons to find him.

Wow.

Could you both give us a moment, please?

Thank you, Tory.

Thank you very much, Lieutenant.

I appreciate it.

Madam President.

Why don't we check the fleet registry, see if any of your family might have survived?

Okay.

So are you gonna tell me what really happened?

You're gonna have to trust me on this one, okay?

It's my mess.

I'll fix it.

Fire.

I see it.

I see it.

I see it.

I see it.

Daniel Novacek just escaped from a POW cell on a Cylon Baseship, stole a Raider, flew it here.

I just finished debriefing him.

Bulldog's alive?

Yeah.

My gods.

How could he be alive?

That tough son of a bitch, he actually made it, didn't he?

Yeah, I guess he did.

So... are you here to talk to your friend or to your XO?

And last time I checked, I was neither.

Oh...

I get it.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, this is gonna be a little complicated for you, isn't it, Admiral?

You gonna tell him what you did?

I did what I had to do.

So tell him.

It's not gonna make any difference.

The past is the past.

You're equivocating.

I don't know why the frak I came here.

Tell him!

He's gonna find out sooner or later.

I see it.

Go away.

Gods damn son of a bitch.

I can't believe it.

It's really you.

Danny Novacek.

I heard you made it.

Good for you, Bulldog.

Saul.

A drink?

You have no idea.

Yes, I do.

Dad?

Hey, I just, uh, I just got your message.

Thank you for coming.

Sit down.

It's time for us to talk.

Let me ask you something.

How often you get out of here?

Why, all the time.

I've been a little under the weather.

That's all.

And how'd you wind up on this old bucket anyway?

What happened to the Valkyrie?

Well, uh, let's just say that last mission wasn't exactly a boon to the old man's career.

Galacticawas his graceful retirement.

Heard you and the old man haven't spoken in a while.

What's wrong?

He won't cover your ass day and night like he used to?

Oh, no, he still does his share of ass-covering.

Problem is, it's his main function now.

Of course, considering how you wound up getting captured in the first place, I guess you found that out the hard way yourself, didn't you?

What's that supposed to mean?

My gods.

He didn't tell you, did he?

Did he?

Tell me what?

That son of a bitch.

I sh*t him down.

Well, if you sh*t him down, you had your reasons.

You were following orders, preventing something worse, right?

No.

I sh*t him down to avoid... detection.

Protect the mission so it wouldn't be discovered by the Cylons.

It was a black ops mission whose sole purpose... was to ascertain the likelihood of a Cylon strike.

Cy... Cylon strike?

So you're saying that...

That we knew they were out there?

That they could launch an att*ck on the Colonies?

We didn't know anything for sure.

There were theories in some circles that the reason that the Cylons had stayed dormant for so long was because they were building a w*r machine, preparing a strike.

But I thought...

I thought that no one had seen or heard from the Cylons in over 40 years.

That's true... partially.

The Admiralty had grown restless with the Adar administration.

They thought we were resting on our laurels, unprepared to protect against an att*ck.

My mission was to escort a stealth recon ship just beyond the Armistice Line, stick our nose over, gather evidence, see if there was any suspicious activities.

And if the Cylons discovered you across the Line breaching the Armistice, then, uh... they would see that as...

An act of w*r.

Stealthstar, Valkyrie.

We register you on dradis, just past the Armistice Line.

You're on full alert. Proceed with caution.

Valkyrie, Bulldog.

I'm exactly two clicks past the Line.

Repeat... two clicks, and I've got negative dradis contacts.

There's nothing here, sir.

Which is fine by me.

Company wants to pay me for a joy ride, they came to the right driver.

Helluva moon.

Dradis contact.

Unknown vessel just jumped in.

Frak!

Krypter Krypter Krypter, I've got damage to the port engine.

Bird is down. Repeat... bird is down.

Request rescue.

Krypter Krypter Krypter. This is Bulldog.

Vessel just jumped out, sir.

Bird is down! Repeat... bird is down!

Request rescue.

Krypter Krypter Krypter, this is Bulldog.

Bird is down.

Repeat... Bird is down.

Two more Dradis contacts.

Sir, please instruct.

What are your orders, sir?

Sir, what are your orders?

Don't do this.

Think about it, Bill.

You don't want to do this.

Do you want his ship discovered?

Do you know where we are?

Do you have any idea what this could mean?

Bogies on intercept course.

Will merge with Stealthstar in 20 seconds.

Sir?

Weapons...

Launch ship-to-ship m*ssile... now.

No!

There is no way...

Oh, it's true.

And you know it's true.

You've known it every second of every day since it happened.

And the sooner you admit it, the sooner you might get that haunted look out of your eyes.

Hey.

Listen to me.

Sometimes surviving can be its own death sentence.

I know that.

So the att*ck on Novacek's ship... the one that winged him and the two dradis contacts that were following him... they weren't Taurons.

Those were the Cylons.

For all those years, I told myself that I didn't know what they were.

But I was just lying to myself.

Pretending that it couldn't be true.

It is true.

I started it.

Initiated it.

Wait a minute.

You started what?

Started what?

The att*cks on the Colonies.

By crossing the Line, I showed them that... we were the warmongers they figured us to be.

And I...

I left them but one choice.

To att*ck us before we att*cked them.

No.

No.

Because it wasn't just you.

They put you there.

They put you there, across the Line.

You had no choice.

That was the Admiralty.

That was the... that was the m*llitary.

You were one mission.

You were one man.

One man.

It only takes one.

You all right?

Yeah, of course.

More nightmares?

Dreams.

Something different this time, though.

I think God's trying to tell me something.

It's about Gaius, isn't it...?

No.

It's not.

It's about something much bigger than that.

After you execute this command... you'll delete the order from your logs... then overwrite the corresponding memory locations.

Execute.

It's okay. It's okay.

Relax, try to breathe through it...

Breathe.

Oh, there's something beautiful... miraculous between life and death.

Hmm.

That's weird.

Why the hell do they keep missing?

Frak.

Adama.

Put him through.

Bill? Yes?

This is Danny. We need to talk.

Hold on.

I need to see you right now.

Hold on. I'll be right there.

The Cylons are saddled up on him.

They've got a perfect, point-blank, no-deflection sh*t.

They had him dead to rights.

I'd say so.

Look, Novacek was hit and smoking, flying straight and level.

Any nugget could make that k*ll.

The Cylons could've wasted him any number of times, and they didn't.

They didn't.

They let him escape.

The Cylons don't do anything by accident.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.

Did Novacek say how he was able to overcome the Cylons that were holding him prisoner?

They were sick?

Had a virus?

I mean, how many viruses do the Cylons have, sir?

Well, who knows?

Maybe it was the same virus those Cylons we found were suffering from.

Yeah, or maybe they just told us a story that we'd buy, something that was credible, familiar.

Novacek was held prisoner on a Baseship for three years, escapes, and then conveniently finds our Fleet with no agenda and no reason to be here.

Hey, Dan.

Ughh!

It's funny how all the training comes back, huh?

Why did you lie to me, Bill?

Uhh!

All those years...

You know what I kept telling myself?

What stupid, frakked-up dream I held onto?

I kept thinking, "Just hang in there, Bulldog.

"Bill Adama's coming.

"He won't leave you to rot in here, not him.

"He won't leave a man behind.

Just hold on."

But you weren't coming.

You didn't think I was alive.

You weren't even hoping I was alive!

And if I hadn't figured a way to escape, if I didn't make my move when I saw they left that door wide open for me, I'd be as good as dead right now!

Is that what they did?

Did they leave the door standing open?

Did they let you escape?

That's not what I meant.

I know the truth.

I b*at them. Do you understand?

I b*at them at their own game.

I frakkin' k*lled her, and I escaped.

You trying to take that away from me?!

Bulldog!

Stay down!

Are you all right, Bill?

Yeah, I'm okay.

You don't wanna believe it, do you? I know.

The truth hurts, Bulldog, but it's better to know the truth than to live a lie.

We're all soldiers, Danny.

We're all expendable.

And we did what we had to do to protect the mission.

It's ugly, but there it is.

But the Cylons let you go.

The question is why?

Ask yourself that, Danny.

Because up until a minute ago, you were doing exactly what they wanted you to do.

Come here and learn the truth and seek revenge.

And that's exactly what you did.

You almost gave them exactly what they wanted.

Tell you a dirty little secret:

The toughest part of getting played, is losing your dignity.

Feeling like you are not worth the oxygen you are sucking down.

You get used to it.

You start to believe it.

You start to love it.

It's like a bottle that never runs dry.

You can keep reaching for it over and over and over again.

So how do you put that bottle away, Saul?

I don't know.

One day you just decide to... get up and walk out of your room.

What is this?

Your resignation.

You have gotta be kidding me.

I said before... we can't hide from the things we've done.

I see no other way around this situation.

Maybe it's time, Laura.

Sit down, Bill.

I think you're being naive.

Naive?

Did it ever occur to you that the Admiralty may have set you up to provoke a w*r they wanted?

It's naive to think that horrible things that we can't understand have simple explanations.

Because simpleexplanations make us feel like we have control when we don't.

We know why the Cylons att*cked us.

And, it wasn't any one thing, oh, my gods.

We did a thousand things, good and bad, every day for 40 years, to pave the way for those att*cks.

Something has to be done.

You know what that is?

Medal of Distinction.

This was before I heard about this resignation of yours.

So hmm...

I'd like to propose this.

You seem hell-bent on paying some kind of penance for whatever it is you think you've done.

So instead of resigning, why don't you get up and walk out of here, meet me on the port hangar deck tomorrow evening for this ceremony, and let me pin a frakkin' medal to your chest?

No, I can't.

It's not for you.

It's for them.

Stand up there, acknowledge your fleet, and give them what they need: a hero.

And that'll be your penance, even if it kills you.

On behalf of everyone in this room, it is my pleasure to present you, Admiral Adama, with the Medal of Distinction for your 40 years of courageous service to the Colonial Fleet.

Congratulations.

Have Dr. Stoffa call me as soon as you arrive.

And, Bulldog, you're gonna be fine.

Just remember it'll take some time.

All right.

Lieutenant...

You forgot something.

I can't.

Bill, I... Take it.

You're not gettin' off that easy.

Once a pilot, always a pilot, Bulldog.

Yes, sir.

Come in.

I heard you won a medal.

Yeah.

They give 'em out for anything these days.

Good behavior... attendance... playing well with others.

I need you back in the CIC.

It just ain't the same without you in there intimidating the inmates.

No. No, no, no, no.

That's not what I came here to talk to you about.

Okay.

So why are you here?

I don't know.

Nothing.

You wanna tell me what happened to Ellen?

I could use a drink.

Me too.