Helena Cain
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| Helena Cain | |
|---|---|
 Rear Admiral Helena Cain in the Pegasus CIC |
|
| Race | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Portrayed by | Michelle Forbes |
| First appearance | "Pegasus" |
| Last appearance | "Resurrection Ship, Part 2" |
| Callsign | Pegasus Actual |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Colony | Tauron |
| Affiliation | Colonial Fleet |
Admiral Helena Cain is a fictional character in the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica, portrayed by Michelle Forbes.
Prior to the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, Helena Cain made a name for herself as a smart and ambitious officer in the Colonial Fleet. She was something of a rising star: Commander William Adama later remarks that she was promoted "to Rear Admiral over half the Commanders on the list".[1]
At the time of the Cylon attack, Cain was aboard her flagship, the Battlestar Pegasus; the Pegasus was docked at the Scorpian Fleet Shipyards for a major refit and Admiral Cain, like many of her crew, was preparing to leave the ship on shore leave. The initial Cylon strike destroyed five Colonial vessels in Pegasus' immediate vicinity and severely damaged the Pegasus herself, killing 700 crew members. In a desperate gamble, Admiral Cain ordered a "blind jump" that took the Pegasus out of the combat zone. The stress of losing so many crew members appears to have contributed to Admiral Cain's later extreme behaviour and possible alcoholism.[1]
According to Colonel Jack Fisk (who later became executive officer and then commanding officer of the Pegasus), Pegasus found 15 refugee civilian ships a week after the attack, but rather than protecting them like Galactica did, Admiral Cain opted to strip these civilian vessels of any useful parts and supplies, draft any civilians who had valuable technical experience into her crew, and then leave the remaining civilians aboard their ships, defenceless. If any civilians refused to join the Pegasus crew, Cain ordered their families shot. Overall, two families were killed under her orders until the draftees relented.[2]
Colonel Fisk also relates to his Galactica counterpart Colonel Saul Tigh a story about Admiral Cain having personally and summarily executed the Pegasus' original executive officer, an old friend of hers, when he refused to order an attack on a Cylon position that was much more heavily defended than expected. She then appointed Fisk as her new executive officer. Fisk is inebriated at the time of telling the story, and later laughs it off as a joke, so it is not entirely clear how true this version of events is.[1]
While the Galactica and her civilian fleet fled the Cylons following the attack, Admiral Cain led Pegasus on a campaign of hit-and-run attacks against the Cylon fleet for six months until it accidentally encountered Galactica and her civilian fleet. Taking over from Commander Adama as military commander of the fleet, Admiral Cain quickly arranges for Galactica's stores to be replenished from Pegasus's own, but neglects the civilian fleet, even going so far as to ignore President Laura Roslin's representations on the civilians' behalf.[1]
At this time, Admiral Cain's chief military objective is to identify a mysterious Cylon vessel sighted in the fleet pursuing Galactica.[1] This vessel is identified as a Cylon Resurrection ship; the strategic value of knocking out the Cylons' means of avoiding death is not lost on the Colonial military commanders, and so Pegasus and Galactica launch a joint operation to engage the Cylon fleet and destroy the Resurrection ship. Following the destruction of the Resurrection Ship and the retreat of the surviving Cylon forces, Admiral Cain is shot to death by the Cylon agent Gina, who had been imprisoned, tortured, and raped under Cain's command.[2]
Concurrently with this operation, Admiral Cain and Commander Adama come into conflict over the treatment of two Galactica crew members, Lt. Karl Agathon and Chief Galen Tyrol. Admiral Cain sentences the pair to death for the murder of a Pegasus officer, Cylon interrogator Lt. Alastair Thorne. In matter of fact, Thorne's death is accidental: Agathon and Tyrol are simply trying to prevent the rape of the Cylon prisoner Sharon "Athena" Agathon. Admiral Cain and Commander Adama come to the brink of firing on one another's vessels[1] before standing down and agreeing to postpone their disagreements until the Resurrection ship has been destroyed. Nonetheless, each makes plans to have the other assassinated following the successful conclusion of the operation. Neither plan is carried out, much to the relief of the respective assassins: Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace and Colonel Fisk.[2]
Admiral Cain, a few episodes earlier, had commissioned Dr. Gaius Baltar to interrogate a Cylon prisoner aboard the Pegasus, who turns out to be another copy of Number Six, Baltar's semi-imaginary lover. The imaginary Number Six implores Baltar to do whatever he can for her, and he agrees. After the Resurrection Ship is destroyed by the the Pegasus and Galactica, Number Six craves for revenge, and after murdering a human gaurd, takes his gun, infiltrates Admiral Cain's chamber, and shoots her in the head.
After her death, Cain is eulogized by both Colonel (now Commander) Fisk and Captain Thrace.[2] She leaves considerable disciplinary problems in her wake for later commanders of the Pegasus to deal with.[3][4]
