Step one: Getting inside

The day of the infiltration started off as we had loosely planned. Kari never mentioned exactly how she would gain the attention of the scientist, but was confident that she could. While watching her in action, I could see why she had no concern over this part of the plan. We were sitting patiently at the cafe until the target arrived. Kari even called her order out before she made it; a caffeinated blend with sweet foam on top. That was when she made her move.

She approached the girl with refined confidence, like she had during our job interview. The girl was intrigued by the looks of it. The body language told everything; the girl's pupils were sharpened, she leaned closer when Kari touched her by the arm, and she laughed so readily. They approached our table sharing another laugh and Kari introduced me, "Linda, this is Dilandra... we were just discussing desserts..."

"Ah, nice to meet you, Dilandra," I smiled politely.

"Likewise... Linda... such an unusual name..." she answered. She had a red mane of hair that was bound together with a hairclip. Her labcoat revealed yellow spotted skin much like a cheetah. "Kari said you are work mates..."

"Yeah... that's true," I nodded, not quite sure what line of work Kari said we did...

"My mother used to work in hospitality to pay for her schooling, then she went into bio-engineering," Dilandra explained, "I sort of followed in her footsteps..."

"Oh? So you're trained in hospitality too?" Kari asked with a note of interest.

"Haha... not so much, but I am deeply involved in scientific matters," Dilandra said.

"So, you must work in the science building over there!" Kari concluded.

"That's right. I've also got a room there. I'm in residency until I can earn a permanent position on the staff," Dilandra openly admitted. This was all like Kari had surmised. She really was a quick study of things, it's no wonder she was picked for this away mission... which makes me wonder why I got picked. Hm...

"Campus life huh? You must not get out much. We should take you for some fun sometime," Kari offered.

"Hah... yeah that'd be fun. I really haven't gotten to see much of the city since I moved here, it's always been work work work," Dilandra confessed, "But it would have to be some other time, I'm working on a major project that needs to be finished soon. It's on a tight timeline, actually I shouldn't dawdle here, I need to get back to work. It was a pleasure meeting the two of you."

Kari looked at me with urgency, we were about to lose our catch! Dilandra made to get up from her seat, picking up her drink as she did. I saw the opportunity and jostled the table. Dilandra tipped forward and dropped the cup. The contents spilled out, all over Kari.

"Ah!!" Kair cried out as the warm liquid splashed over her clothing and skin. "Linda, you klutz!"

"Oh no!" I cried out as well, hopefully just as convincing, "You can't go to the big meeting looking like that! You'll get fired for sure!"

Dilandra was already trying to towel Kari off, "Oh... that's not good..." she said.

"Uh... yeah... if only I had a change of clothes out here..." Kari said, playing it up. "But, darn, there's not enough time..."

"I could maybe lend you something..." Dilandra offered.

Kari turned to Dilandra, "Would you?" She held the young scientist's hands, "I would be forever in your debt if you could help me out... "

Dilandra seemed to blush, then silently nodded, "Oh ok... yeah, come with me..." she got up and led us over to the science building.