Life Tests
By Anthony Wilkins

First Cylon War
Day 43

"Am I alive?"

That was the question Private First Class Hector Tierney of the Leonis Territorial Army kept asking himself. There was nothing but emptiness around him. There was no colour, no light and no sound. In fact as he asked that question over and over he couldn't be sure whether he was speaking it or thinking it. He felt detached from his body and he was desperate to get back to it.

"Am I alive? Please, anybody?"

There had been a loud popping sound before he felt this way. He had been on patrol with his platoon through the dense forestry of Leonis' northernmost continent in search of a Cylon unit that had ambushed the 14th Leonis light infantry just two days earlier. Their mission was to locate the enemy and gather intelligence ready for an attack.

Unfortunately they themselves came under attack. The relative calm of the patrol evaporated in an instant as the air filled with bullets. It was as he dived for cover that he heard the popping sound and then everything went dark.

"Please, anybody," he said once more. "Please tell me. Am I alive?"

"Yes," said a woman's voice. "Open your eyes."

Hector found that he was no longer staring into just blackness. He could see stars above the tops of trees. He began to have more feeling in his body and he soon realized he was lying on the ground staring upwards into a night sky. He reasoned he must have been there several hours because it was early afternoon when they were attacked and there was still a sun in the sky.

More and more feeling came to his body. Something warm was on the side of his head and he instinctively reached up to touch it. Retracting his fingers, in the starlight he could see the dark red liquid around his fingertips from his head wound.

It took a great deal of concentration for him to get up onto his feet. It was as though he was learning to walk all over again. Once upright he took a look around. Scattered all over the ground were the bodies of his comrades. These were friends of his some he had known for years and now they were all dead, their bodies cut and burned from shrapnel and gunfire. He had clearly been the lucky one of his platoon of twenty three men but there was no time to mourn their deaths. He knew he had to move or he too would be joining them.

He rather clumsily picked up his AR271 rifle off the ground and slung its strap over his shoulder. He considered picking up some extra clips of ammunition off some of his fallen friends but couldn't bring himself to gather it up feeling it was akin to grave robbing. Besides he doubted if he could carry much anyway given his present condition.

Collecting his senses he soon got his bearings. He remembered having come from the south and knowing that the mission was over he elected to proceed back in that direction towards the base camp. Trying to place one foot in front of the other as carefully as he could he felt like he was drunk as he stumbled his way through the forest. He hadn't walked more than a few yards when the signals to his feet became confused and he went crashing to the forest floor once more his face landing squarely into the dirt.

One Year Earlier

Hector's hands ran up the bare back of Angelina as she sat atop of him. Locked in their naked embrace they kissed passionately almost with desperation to taste one another as they made love on the backseat of his car. It was Hector's last night as a civilian and the last time they would be spending a night together for the foreseeable future.

When it was over the two of them collapsed into one another's arms both of them glazed in perspiration. The power and emotion of the moment had subsided and soon the realization was setting in that by this time the next day they would both be separated. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart still beating like a heavy drum against his rib cage.

"We don't need soldiers anymore," she whispered to him.

"What?" he asked only just catching what she had said.

"I said we don't need soldiers anymore. We've got Cylons to protect us now. So why do you need to go off to the Army."

"Well someone's got to pay for my degree," he replied. "If I serve in the Army then I can get a military scholarship. Besides it's always been my ambition to see the twelve worlds for a bit before I settle down."

"The only world you'll be seeing is Tauron," she protested lifting her head from his chest to look at him. "And you know why. Because there's a war going on there."

He began to run his hands up her naked waist in a playful manner not stopping until he had passed her shoulders and his fingers were running through her sun-like blond hair. He cupped both sides of her face as he looked up at her and said, "That's why we have Cylons."

Present Day

Using his rifle to haul himself up onto his feet he cursed his unsteadiness before moving on. Left foot. Right foot. He had to actually make an effort with each and every step. Walking through the darkened forest with a head wound he had no idea if every movement he saw was a bush blowing in the wind or a Cylon coming to finish the job.

He tried not to ponder on it. He couldn't for if he took his mind off walking for even a second he seemed to start stumbling around. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. He had to keep moving. He felt like he had been drinking heavily and was stumbling home from a night club the whole time he was fighting the urge to vomit but it was all immensely tiring work.

He fell against a tree, his shoulder landing pretty hard, in order to rest for a few moments. Using the tree to keep him upright he looked around expecting to still see his dead comrades just a few yards behind him but they were nowhere to be seen. He begun to wonder just how far had he walked. The faint voice of optimism rung in his head telling him that he didn't have much further to go although in reality there was no way for him to tell. In fact in his current state he wasn't even sure if he was heading in the right direction.

"What was that?" he asked himself suddenly, his ears detecting something.

A faint noise seemed to be carried on the wind. He couldn't quite make it out. It almost sounded like someone crying. There it was again! He definitely heard it that time. It was the sound of someone crying. Whether it was instinctive or whether it was by choice in his present state he couldn't be sure but he found himself walking towards the direction from which the sound was coming. It was not long before the sound was clearly ringing in his ears. Momentarily distracted by it he forgot about his feet and fell once more.

"Get away!" screeched a voice.

Peering through dirt stained eyes he looked up to find a young woman with jet black hair in civilian clothes sitting against a tree. Strapped around her stomach was a belt on the front of which was a small hexagonal box.

"Who…Who are you?" he stuttered.

"Just stay away!" she repeated. "It's a bomb."

"A what?" he asked not quite sure what he had heard.

"It's a bomb. They've rigged me."

"A bomb?" he said suddenly feeling a little more sober. "Let me take a look."

"No stay away!"

"Maybe I can get it off you."

"No," she pleaded. "If you move it it's going to go off."

"If I don't do anything you're just as dead," he reminded her.

Not wanting to risk falling on her he discarded his rifle and crawled towards her. She began to whimper even worse as he closed in on her. She resembled someone who was afraid of spiders only to have the unfortunate luck of finding one resting on her stomach.

He tried to remember everything he knew about such devices from his basic training. There was an unfortunate side to this however.

Eight Months Earlier

"Cylons! Cybernetic Lifeform Nodes!" barked the drill instructor at Fort Phonso.

Hector and the rest of his fellow trainees stood assembled in three rows of ten all facing across the parade ground at the group of robots staring back at them. In between the two very different groups of soldiers Staff Sergeant Mendez paced backwards and forwards. This was the first time any of the trainees had seen the Cylons of the Leonis Army up close.

"Take a good look at them," said Mendez. "These toys are probably the most important tools we will ever have on the battlefield. One day they will replace us all as soldiers of Leonis. War will become a video game. But until that day lovely boys there's still a need for blood on the battlefield. These things will make sure that its not yours. Tierney!"

"Yes Staff Sergeant?" replied Hector.

"You're supposed to be intelligent. How will these things help keep that precious warm stuff inside your skinny little body?"

"By fighting alongside us, Staff Sergeant!"

"Would you fight alongside a Cylon?" asked Mendez less than a few inches from Hector's face.

"Yes I would, Staff Sergeant."

"Really?" asked Mendez. "Why?"

"Because they're better than us, Staff Sergeant!" said Hector a little unsure of the accuracy of his answer.

"Better? Better how?"

"They're faster and stronger, Staff Sergeant."

"My Gods!" gasped Mendez mockingly. "Recruit Tierney has done it again. Tell us, why else are they better than us?"

"Because they're smarter, Staff Sergeant."

"Not a particularly difficult task it has to be said. That's right they're smarter than us. They are faster, stronger and they obey orders without question. Observe." Mendez turned to the nearest Cylon, a gold tinted Command Centurion, and stared at its visual sensor. "Robot; I am going to throw a grenade into the platoon. Your objective is to prevent human casualties. Do you understand?"

"By-Your-Command"

Hector couldn't believe his eyes when Mendez turned back to face them with a grenade in his hand he having concealed it until now in the inside of his jacket. Mendez pulled the pin and threw it into the assembled group of trainees.

"Holy frak!" screamed Tierney, his voice drowned out by the others who all went running, screaming in terror. They couldn't believe that their drill instructor had thrown a grenade at them.

No sooner had the grenade left Mendez's hand the Cylon charged forwards in pursuit knocking Mendez out of the way. Like a Worlds-class Pyramid player the Cylon leaped into the air catching the grenade before it even reached the ground. Clutching the grenade close to its chest the Cylon landed hard against the ground covering the grenade as its timer went out but instead of an explosion there was a bright flash before the Cylon became engulfed in red coloured smoke.

The trainees weren't sure what they were seeing until Mendez uttered, "You didn't think I'd really damage one of these things with an actual grenade just to protect your scrawny asses did you?"

Present Day

"Did they ever train you to disarm one of these things?" asked the woman.

"Yeah," he said. "They trained us to call a Cylon to do it."

"Oh that's frakking great."

"I think I know…" Hector's dizzy state made him feel sick again but he held it off before finishing. "I think I can see how this works."

"How?"

"There's an infra-red scanner…On the back. It's picking up your body heat. If it stops detecting your heat then…"

"I'm dead," she added. "How do we get it off?"

"I-I don't know. I think there's a timer on it to prevent it from accidentally blowing if it momentarily loses contact. It's to ensure it goes off when it's deliberately moved to kill any…would-be helper."

"Cylon!" gasped the woman.

"What?"

"Behind you!"

Hector looked behind him to find himself face to face with his enemy. A single gold tinted Cylon was emerging from behind a nearby tree and stood still, its visual sensor focusing directly on them. It was armed with the standard assault pistol but the Cylon was keeping it by its side not threatening them in any way.

Hector looked for his own rifle before realizing he had left it on the ground out of his arm's reach. There was nothing stopping it from just gunning the two of them down but instead it just stood there watching them.

"What's it doing?" asked the woman.

"It's watching us," said Hector shaking a bout of dizziness from his head.

"Why?"

"Probably wants to study us. To see how we're going to deal with this bomb. It's a gold tinted model which means its intended as a Command Centurion. It has higher processing power than the regular ones."

"What are we going to do?" she asked wondering whether her would-be rescuer would abandon her.

"I think it wants to see if we can remove the booby trap so they can develop better ones in the future. That's my guess anyway. That means that even if I can get it off you it will probably kill us both anyway."

"Oh Gods," sobbed the woman who now knew for certain that one way or another she was probably in the final few moments of her life.

"What's your name?" Hector asked her whilst looking at their Centurion observer.

"Holly."

"Well Holly, I'm Hector." Unsteadily, Hector slowly clambered up onto his feet stumbling slightly as his heels tried to stand him upright facing the Centurion. The Centurion did nothing in response except continue watching. "What do you want?" The Cylon seemed to know that it was being addressed directly but it did nothing response. "You want to know if I can get that off her don't you? And then what? You'll kill us both. Am I right?"

"One-May-Leave," said the Cylon's synthetic voice.

"What?" asked a groggy Hector.

"One-May-Leave. You-May-Remove-The-Device-But-You-Will-Have-Five-Seconds-To-Reattach-It. Will-You-Comply?"

"What does it mean?" asked Holly.

Hector knew what it meant. "It wants us to decide who stays with the bomb. Whoever doesn't stay with it will be allowed to leave alive."

"And the one who stays with it?" asked Holly although she knew the answer.

"It'll be game over," said Hector.

"Will-You-Comply?"

"I…I will," stuttered the increasingly tired Hector.

Hector turned towards Holly who looked up at him with eyes pleading for help. Her eyeballs were now pink from having cried so hard for so long. He lowered himself as easily as he could until he sat down beside her and looked at her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him, her voice almost a whisper.

"Push down on the front of it," he instructed her. "You don't want it breaking its link. I know we've got five seconds but let's not tempt fate." He took out his field knife with his left hand and placed it behind the belt holding it to Holly's body. With one quick swoop he pulled the knife towards him severing the belt. "Now when I tell you to I want you to let go of it and let me have it, no hesitating. Ok?"

"Why are you doing this for me?" she asked him not wanting to sound ungrateful. She just wanted to know why he was sacrificing himself to save her even though until this moment they had never met.

"My head wound means I cant go very far," he explained. "Even if I was set free by that thing I doubt I'll make it back to our lines. You on the other hand have a greater chance than I do."

"So it's down to mathematics?" she said.

"I guess you could say that. Alright ready?"

"No wait!" she said quickly. "Before we do this. I just want to say thank you."

He didn't know how to respond. Somehow 'you're welcome' didn't seem right given the situation. He decided to just push on and get on with it.

"Alright, ready?" he said and Holly braced herself. "Now!"

In one quick move she let go of the bomb. With no belt holding it around her waist it began to fall away losing contact with her body heat. A pinging sound began to emanate from it indicating it was now armed. Hector grasped hold of it and quickly threw it to his chest. As soon as it landed against his rib cage the pinging stopped. He guessed he had just two seconds remaining before it would have gone off.

Holly scrambled up onto her feet leaving Hector on the ground with the bomb on his chest. She looked down at him tears still filling her eyes. To Hector it looked like she hadn't stopped crying for days. She turned to face the Cylon, its red eye scanning her every movement.

"Let him go," she demanded. "He's passed your test now let him go."

"What?" asked a groggy Hector unsure whether he had heard her correctly.

"Return-To-Your-Holding-Area-And-Await-Your-Next-Instructions."

Holly began to walk off but stopped after two paces before turning back to the Cylon to plead one last time. "Please!" The Cylon ignored her. She looked back at Hector lying on the ground clutching the bomb. She walked upto him, his own tired eyes filled with both anger and confusion. She reached down and pulled the bomb from his chest, in his increasingly tired state he was unable to resist her. The bomb began pinging once more until it reached the end of its countdown but nothing happened. It was a dud. They were never in any real danger from it.

"You…frakking traitor!" barked Hector.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "If I didn't cooperate they'd kill my family. They're holding them in a camp not far from here. I think we're useful to them."

"Useful!" he growled. "How?"

"To understand us. We may have built them," she started before stopping for a moment to rub her tear filled eyes. "But they don't really know us. They seem to want to understand. I've had to do this six times. You were the first to try and help me."

"Frak off!" he said to her.

She wanted to say more but she knew it was useless. She looked at the Cylon before turning to walk back into the forest. The Cylons were obviously sure she would make it back to the camp without the need for an escort. Soon it was just Hector and the Cylon.

"So this was just some experiment, huh?" he said to it as it walked closer towards him, its heavy footprints making deep indentations in the ground. "How did I do?"

"Program-Completed."

"What did you learn from all this?" he asked hoping that he would get some sort of reason for his impending death. "You wanted to see how easily we'd turn against each isn't it?" It didn't reply and so with the last of his energy he screamed, "Isn't it?"

The Cylon stopped less than a mater away from him. The speakers in its chest crackled momentarily before a familiar voice emanated from them. It was Staff Sergeant Mendez from Fort Phonso where he did his basic training. It said, "My Gods, Recruit Tierney has done it again." He soon heard his own voice replying to Mendez as the whole conversation about how Cylons are better than Humans was played out infront of him.

"You were the Centurion that jumped on that smoke grenade," said Hector in a moment of realization. "I see. That was my lesson so I guess this is yours."

The speaker crackled once more, "My Gods, Recruit Tierney has done it again."

The arm of the Cylon holding the assault pistol rose until the barrel was pointing directly at Hector's head. In one bright flash his life was over.

"Am I dead?"

"Yes," replied a woman's voice.

The End