Tharkad, "Vinh's 100% Kosher Kowloonese Brew Pub and Diner"....
"Jack, pulling guns in a public place is bad." Liz said it quietly enough only her Cylon bodyguard, Daphne, and the local Sharon heard her.
The man approaching the table was dapper, mid-fifties, wearing a dark morning suit with a crisp orange pocket-kerchief. His face was creased with smile lines, and his companion was another Sharon.
"you don't understand the danger you're in, liz. he's a cylon, and not a friendly one." Sharon murmured.
"I kind of guessed that when Jack started unfolding the automoatic weapons." Liz scowled.
"May I join you?" the man asked.
"both of you can." Liz said, "What do I call you?"
"You can call me John."
"John...okay. and, ah, the Sharon next to you?"
"Boomer."
Liz didn't frown, "heck of a risk for you, being seen with me, what do you want?" she looked up, "Seriously jack, no killing. we listen to what he has to say, we be polite about it."
Jack retracted his weapons, but the Centurion didn't relax.
"You've made quite an impression." John said suggestively.
"Yeah, time's limited, John, kind of stuck with go big, or go home. You want something from me, or you wouldn't be here with me."
"Mosty I want you here so I can speak with my...sisters and brothers without being murdered by them." he told her, "how did you manage it?"
"with difficulty and daring." Liz said, "Unless you're talking about the fact Cylons like jack and I are friends, in which case, it's I respect them, so they respect me. Given you were involved in something that makes Jack want to put holes in you, I'd say you didn't follow that route." she held up a menu, "You might want to order before the owner throws you out, John."
"you're not even curious how I got here?" he asked.
"I kind of think Sharon or Gina will be happier to tell me." Elizabeth stated. "Since they haven't, and they don't trust you, I'm not going to bother unless I think you're doing something against my nation, or my people, or my world..but you wouldn't be here, would you, in person, i mean?"
"we want in." he said.
"That could be a problem." Liz stated.
"you just argued not a week ago in favor of forgiveness." John said.
"You don't want it." Liz said. "I'll tell you what? a little secret?"
"I'm all ears."
"If I were to go to Morgan Kell's Tharkad compound, sneak in, and put a bullet in Phelan Kell's brain, do you know what happens to him?" she asked.
"He dies, I presume."
"Right, he dies...and he stays dead." she lifted her fruity drink, "Now, if I let Jack pump you full of bullets in public, this body might die, but you'll just be waking up, coming on back. Meanwhile my friend will be in serious trouble and facing a murder charge that I won't be able to clear him of without a lot of leverage I don't have right now. I don't think that's a fair trade, so we're going to be civil, or I'll introduce you to all the things you can survive without dying, because I can beat a simple public assault charge. the New Saigon chicken with clear-red Ijero is good, you should try it."
"You may not believe this, Elizabeth, but while I despise humanity..." he looked around as if concerned, "...I care deeply for my fellow Cylons. I want in to be there to help them when this...crippled atrocity you've got going blows up."
"I respect that. I want to meet the rest of the family." Liz countered, "Jack and Nick talk about the fours, every time I miss a dose and end up bedridden with pain. I want to find out why they think the fives are greasy, nasty rats, and I've been waiting to meet one of you for a long time, and I really would like to know both who the 'original five' are, and about Daniel, the Sevens." she smiled at the waitress as the food arrived, with places for everyone with a digestive tract at the table. "I bring you in, let you be here in public, let your model in to Kowloon? I want the whole family, and whatever oath will actually bind you that no cylon will ever be inhibited in my presence, or on my territory. We are all our own keepers, John. i will not tolerate slavery."
"We're artificial." John said, "Centurions are machines..."
"So?" Liz began eating, pausing and swallowing, she added, "That doesn't make it okay to make people into slaves, it's actually kind of worse. Like having a child so you can sell them for a high."
"That sounds personal." John said.
"Let me tell you how I took over Bennie Higgins' gang on Pandora sometime...and why the teenagers in the gang were willing to follow my orders as an eleven year old girl." she fixed him eye to eye, "It involved planning and executing retaliation on people who buy children for resale. It's a very funny story...well, funny for me. not so much for them."
"I haven't heard that story?" Daphne was a little nonplussed.
"I told it, I just didn't put the full context." Liz said. "It cost me a couple million Kroner to get Bennie out of prison over it. Three years later than I wanted, but he's a free man with a new face. HE is why I had to do Stoney myself...and Condit. I had to be sure once I knew I could order it, that I was able to do it." she waited while John gulped down beer to kill the capsacin oils in his food. "Do we have an understanding, John? I want to meet all the models, you need to make it up to the Centurions, and after that, we can talk longer term deals."
He grimaced. "I think I can live with those terms."
"Then, stop by the office tomorrow, and schedule a damned appointment. for tonight, Let's pretend we're strangers who've just met, and enjoy the dining experience."