"He won't budge," she said a little sullenly. "Recent events make that clear." Sarah zapped the taser again, just because she could. "If I talk to the Wardens, it'll have to be off channel. That thing is listening. And to be fair, I'm not sure she can't hack this conversation."

Her paused was a little longer, then.

"I don't like that she used you, but that's what they do. If you'd been in front of her, she might have killed you, taken your face...and then killed me--depending on what her model can do."

There were a thousand ways this might go. And she hoped to God it wouldn't end up with her own inmate staring death in the face. If she were the Terminator...she'd try to draw her prey out by taking Gaius captive. And hurting him--or killing him and taking his shape if she was anything like that last one. It made sense and followed Skynet logic.

And Sarah would be lying if she said she wasn't frightened for the man. She locked the fear out and focused on what really mattered--Gaius Baltar. Sarah had been charged with helping him. In her book that meant keeping him safe. After all, she'd promised to make sure no one would hurt him.

She promised--and that was one damned thing that she did her best to keep. Even to men who basically allowed the fucking apocalypse happen by not keeping it in his pants. She was dealing with that, though. He was just like Miles, an unwitting participant in mass slaughter. If he'd known, he might not have done it. Maybe. Gaius had a long way to go as far as being an inmate went down, but he didn't deserve to get his ass murdered.

"Gaius," she said in a quiet but deadly serious voice, "you so much as suspect you're being followed, you get the fuck back to your cabin and you bolt that damn door. Don't answer it. Not even if it's me. Not even if I sound like I'm dying. You don't touch the door, you hear me? If one of us has to suffer a death toll, it's not going to be you."