Gaeta with the retractable, bloodied pen as Adama, Roslin, and others storm Baltar's cell.

Fortunately for the viewing audience, one of the greatest characters in history is not taken out by a whimpy pen, as Admiral William Adama punches Gaeta, thereby allowing Cottle to prevent any further damage. Still, once Baltar is safe, he manages a comical dig into Gaeta during Baltar’s trial in “Crossroads, Part II” when bringing up the fact that Gaeta tried to kill him with a pen: “And you missed, butterfingers!”

The bloodied, retractable pen.

The clean version of the retractable pen.

These metal pens measure 7 1/2″ in length, with the pen tip portion of the item capable of retracting into the hollowed out tube. The pen cap, attached at the end here, cannot be removed.