Sherman Cottle

Major Sherman Cottle was a Colonial officer in service as a physician. Though holding an officer's rank, this was a formality and despite a severe shortage of officers he was not in the chain of command.
==Biography==
In the lead-up to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, Galacticas medical staff was reduced to a skeleton compliment as crew were transferred to other ships. Major Cottle, as Chief Medical Officer, stuck behind with paramedics Layne Ishay and Howard Kim, ready to handle any emergencies in a single sickbay. Following the Cylon attack, he was left as one of the few physicians left alive, and as such was frequently ferried across the Fleet to perform surgeries, or otherwise perform them on Galactica.
Among Major Cottle's first patients following the attack was President Laura Roslin. Having been recently diagnosed with breast cancer, she went to him for continued assessment to her condition. He initially prescribed Dolaxan, but respected her wish to seek alternative therapies instead and supplied her with a herbalist in the fleet he was aware of.
When Commander Adama was seriously wounded in a failed assassination attempt by Lt. Sharon Valerii, Major Cottle was not on board the ship due to commitments elsewhere in the fleet, complicated by the arrival of a Cylon fleet. He was transported back in time to save the Commander, who had until then been kept alive by Paramedics Ishay and Kim who were forced to perform emergency surgery despite being unqualified.
When a Number Eight prisoner-of-war was taken to Galactica from Kobol, Major Cottle took her in as his patient, seeing her as something of a medical marvel rather than a robot in a skin suit. It was, however, due to his assessment of her unborn baby that led to the order of her forced abortion, which was cancelled at the last minute. Major Cottle was also involved in the birth of the baby, named Hera, and was forced to take part in a conspiracy to abduct her and hide her within the fleet to avoid Cylon capture, and provided a stillborn in her place. This conspiracy was limited to President Roslin, her aides and the Major, and neither the now Admiral Adama or Hera's parents were aware. Due to his previous actions in preparing for the abortion, he was almost killed by the Number Eight, who believed he had murdered the baby.
With much of Galactica's crew settling on New Caprica a year after the attack, Major Cottle was allowed to live on the surface to perform medicine there. After a year on the planet, however, the settlement was faced with a medicine shortage, including antibiotics for treating pneumonia. When the Cylons took over the planet, a hospital was opened up, but it is uncertain whether this benefited the situation. Major Cottle continued to perform medicine throughout the four-month occupation, including on Humanoid Cylons that had refused to kill themselves after suffering injuries.
Following the loss of several ships in an attempt to get to the algae planet, Major Cottle's patients included treating civilians housed on Galactica's unused portside deck. He played a crucial role in uncovering mass murder committed by a doctor against Sagittarons.
When Galactica prepared for its assault on The Colony, Major Cottle volunteered for the mission, but was refused by Admiral Adama, who believed he was of better use in The Fleet. He survived to settle on a planet dubbed "Earth", where he determined the genetic compatibility between the colonial humans and a near-identical people which evolved on the planet.
==Sources==
Category:Colonial Fleet Personnel
Category:Colonial Fleet Officers
Category:Battlestar Galactica Crew