The club was full tonight with members of the armed services and contractors invited to a party sponsored by Burnwood. It was mostly enlisted and a few junior officers from the base. In the corner of the room a blond watched them while sipping a cocktail. She was looking for somebody.
Being the delegate between contractors and the military, Darlene was expected to make the rounds, show ‘face’ as it were. She was responsible for keeping several members glasses filled and for providing adequate conversation fitting to the event. It was hardly what she was used to doing, playing somewhat hostess. Having spent a good portion of time with a group of men all showing there credentials and bragging about them, Dar needed to circulate and started to walk the party, brandishing a friendly smile.
The blond found Darlene walking toward her and then made her move. The blond wore a badge with her name, Zarah, and the contracting data service company she belonged to. “Darlene?”
Hearing her name called and then seeing a blond moving towards her, Darlene raised an eyebrow. She knew most of the attendees knew her name, came with the position she held now but she admittedly was still fuzzy on matching names to faces. “Yes?”
“Don’t you remember me? Back on Caprica. It’s me Zarah from Alpha Tech, we met at the Venus Club, I was the one with the White Rose of Solaria” Anyone within earshot would think it was a regular encounter of two acquaintances, unless they known the significance of the last words. It was code from a deep under-cover agent which she would recognize.
Being an agent meant learning the conducts, regulations and most importantly codes that were innocent enough to go by as general chatter. Darlene listened to the words and her smile shrank a little as she processed the meaning before she took a second to look to her left, then right. “Right, how could I forget. That was one hell of a night!” Dar raised her glass, “Another drink?” which was really rhetorical as what she was about to hear was no doubt something best heard sober. Without waiting for a response, Darlene started through the crowds of members towards a vacant side room.
The agent smiled after following Darlene’s eyes to toward the quieter side of the large room with empty tables. She followed.
“Some party, huh?” the blond said after they arrived, still playing her part.
Darlene half heard the question over the chatter around them, her mind running the permutations of this agents appearance and as they approached that vacant room off from the main hall of party guests, Dar paused in the doorway, “Yes, quite a party.”
She let the blond in and was just closing the door so they could talk in private when somebody wanted in the room to make a call. “Sorry, we want some privacy.” She raised a playful smile because everybody knew her reputation so it wasn’t like she had to try overly hard to paint the reason for the privacy.
The agent was please with how Darlene handled the person wanting inside the room. She was definitely a good candidate but Darlene would have to prove herself. Zarah walked to the center of the room and looked for anything that might record this meeting. No security cameras and her hand watch beep to indicate there was no listening devices found. She turned around. “Close the door.”
Darlene managed to shoo away the guest and could breathe a sigh of relief. It was however short lived as she received a directive to close the door. She closed the door behind her and locked it so they wouldn’t be disturbed. “That should buy us sometime, probably think we are having a little fondling session in here.” She started away from the door towards the blond.
Zarah smiled for a second, and then it faded as soon as it appeared. “It’s time to prove your worth, Darlene. We have been given this opportunity to set things straight with universe. You were given a second chance, and sent here for a purpose.” She walked toward the Colonial officer, and then gently brushed Darlene’s hair away from her left cheek, almost lovingly like a long lost lover. “Your life belongs to God.”
Instinctively she leaned her cheek into the touch and then remembered what she was there for, what they were both there for. She wasn’t one that believed in one God or any Gods because her life to date just wasn’t the work of a God. “What does that mean?”
“Are you Alive, Darlene?” asked Zarah looking directly into her eyes. “Do you know what that means?”
“Yes.” Darlene responded somewhat not sure where this was going.
“You don’t,” she shook her head, “but you might learn.” Zarah stroke her cheek one last time and then let go. “First tell me. Why did you become a Burnwood agent? We know it’s not because of the cubits.”
“The cubits help, getting paid decent for cleaning up other peoples problems is what I do better than anyone.” Darlene moved away from the blond and took a seat. “I enjoy the thrill of danger, lets just say that.”
Zarah remained standing. “Yet you know a day would come when you might be asked to give your life to accomplish your mission. No paid mercenary would be so committed.”
“Of course. Everybody dies, question only is when. I have the advantage in knowing it will be sooner rather than later.” Darlene crossed her legs and observed the blond a little more closely.
Zarah finally took a seat across from Darlene. “Then you will be relieved to know it will be tomorrow.” She looked at her and waited for the reaction.
Darlene leaned forward, uncrossing her legs in the process, “How?”
“Several ways perhaps, but the result would be in a blaze of glory,” she thought that funny and laughed. “Vice Admiral Conrad Pierce is your target. He must not survive past tomorrow. Do you understand.” She said with a serious tone now.
“I understand but I can’t just walk into his office with a firearm.” Darlene pleaded knowing the security as well as she did, there was no way she could just walk up to him and shot him or even stab him.
“You will wear an explosive vest, and you must take him soon after the signal is given. The signal is the detonation of a large explosive in the heart of Tawa. You will not miss it, I promise.”
“And where am I suppose to get that vest?” Darlene didn’t blink, didn’t argue or plead for her life, she really wanted to die if only to end her miserable life.
“It has been left in a bag inside a locker at the fitness center,” Zarah then produced a key card in her hand, but before giving her the card, she paused. “You know of the STO?”
“Yes, why?” Darlene reached out her hand.
“I thought I should tell you Burnwood is a cover for STO operatives. We never truly faded away after the war.” The Soldiers of the One brought about the rise of the Cylon revolt. She still held onto the key card.
“Why wasn’t I told? Couldn’t I be trusted?” Darlene was surprised a little about the true people she was working for but not completely.
“You’re being told now. Why? Does this change your mind,” this agent had no reservations of reaching over and breaking this human’s neck. Cylons could eventually take care of the Admiral themselves, it was just more efficient to have humans do the dirty work for them. “We can choose another for this and award them for their sacrifice.”
Darlene let her surprise wash off as she listened to the statement, bold and thorough. Find another? No, this was her assignment, she had endured the retraining at Burnwood and was going to ensure she did not frak up again. “No, no I’m not changing my mind. What reward?”
“Resurrection,” said the Cylon agent.
A chuckle, a scoff left her lips as she didn’t believe the blond was serious. “Resurrection? How many drinks have you had darling?”
“You don’t have to believe me,” She then pulled out her smart phone and then placed it on the table. “Do you remember your formal keeper?”
“My keeper? I’ve never had a keeper.” Darlene enquired out of genuine curiosity while observing the phone placed on the table.
“What ever you like to call them, your last supervisor. She was executed for your failure the last time, but my leader had a change of heart.” Zarah activated her phone’s video player.
In a short clip, Darlene’s formal supervisor was floating in a what looked like a bath a sleep and then a moment later her eyes opened wide and she gasped for a mouthful of air. Next to her someone who looked like Zarah, grabbed her hand. “Everything is better now. God has rewarded you with a new life.”
The woman in the bath, just looked at her in shock. “She shot me.”
“She freed you,” replied the model six. The clip ended.
Upon viewing the clip from the smart phone, mouth slightly hanging ajar from it, Darlene looked away from it to the blond and then back to the frozen image on the video. “You’re saying, she was dead then what? God brought her back to life?” Trying to get her head around it was difficult as realistically, it was impossible.
“We brought her back. God was the one who inspired us to develop the technology. We offer it to those who will serve us well. We have your genetic code on file, we will do the same once you execute your mission to kill Admiral Pierce.” said Zarah. “In the next 24 hours the worlds as you’ve known them will change forever.”
Speechless was what came over Darlene as she listened to the explanation. She was not a devoted believer in God but she had to admit a certain plausibility about this being fact and not fiction. Having spent the last part of her life observing people, she could sense, see that the woman before her was not pulling her chain as it were, it was genuine. “The Admiral has security, both civilian and military, I can’t just walk into the place to kill him, vest or no vest.”
“All we ask is that you try your best, the point of your mission is to disrupt. His death at your hands would only be a bonus. It will give our forces time to take control.” She cut herself short of revealing the true purpose, and that was complete Victory for Cylon. “Soldiers of the One will have it’s victory at last. So say we all.” She passed the key card to Darlene.
“What’s this?” Darlene examined the key card just handed to her, her mind still riddled with the whole ‘resurrection thing but for now she had to concentrate on the mission at hand and how best to accomplish it.
“The key to the locker, which you will find the explosives. It’s your choice, wear the vest or tuck the explosives into a day pack, which ever will work for you.” She watched Darlene take the key.
Darlene closed the palm of her hand with the key inside it and then slid it into her little clutch purse for safe keeping. “I’ll come up with something.” The ease in which her acceptance of this future was surprising even to her. She looked at the woman in front of her, cryptic but engaging. “We need to look like we did something in here, divert suspicions.” It was equally surprising that this secrecy stuff had become second nature to her.
Zarah smiled. “What are you suggesting?”
“Don’t know about your lungs, mine could do with a little screaming.” Darlene placed her clutch purse to the side and her glass of bubbly aside as she smirked. If this was to be her last night, living that is, then she might as well go out in style.
“Screaming? Like in riding a roller coaster?” The Cylon agent asked, not sure what the human meant.
“Yes, something like that. Think of it like acting, pretending to be really excited.” Darlene couldn’t believe she was explaining this to someone. They had been in this side room for a while, they needed to make it look like they were doing what everyone outside the room were thinking they were doing.
“So we should be making out,” Zarah smiled. “Okay.” She did not waste any more time, leaned forward and kissed Darlene.
Darlene did not have the time to explain further or to say anything as the blond pressed her lips against Dar’s. At least she did not have to explain how that worked. This woman was a mystery to Darlene and she hated mysteries. Dar reached down and took the blonds hands, moving them up to her dress, her lips moving from Zarah’s to the neck, lightly kissing over it all the way up to the ear where she whispered, “Rip my dress a little here.” Holding her hands over the blonds, she smirked. Little damage would show they had a little session in the room.
As one of many copies of a Cylon model, Zarah was willing to experience the human side. She followed Darlene lead. It was the mission, all of this would end after tomorrow. It was better to experience this now, because later she will lead centurions against the humans. She will have her fun.