Personal Log - Dani Atarah, Kalina Zett, Tom Cardello - A Dance of Defiance and Power - Earth IX

Posted on Tue Sep 9th, 2014 @ 6:54am by Danielle Atarah

1,467 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Are You Touched?
Location: Earth

Two weeks. Three museums, two banks, three corporate buildings -- one of them twice -- and a Federation-controlled Starfleet compound. That last one was the biggest, most complex job, and took the majority of the time to plan and carry out, including a hacking into its computer banks and two scouting trips. It was all done quickly, efficiently, and, with the exception of one very close call, without much hassle.

Ironically, the close call didn't happen at the Starfleet compound, but rather at the second of the corporate buildings. Federation First (Dani mentally grunted whenever that name came up) wasn't as efficient with maintaining the high-level security that trained Starfleet personnel had before it. The corporate buildings, however, had professional security, and these proved to be much more of a challenge.

Still, the loot was impressive, the timing too, and even Mr. Smith seemed to be less his pain-in-the-ass self, giving Dani some amount of professional respect. On her part, the baiting stopped, though it wasn't an easy task to accomplish. After two weeks of constant work, they seemed to have settled in on a grudgingly pleasant banter.

Cardello was also impressed, for the most part, examining each and every piece of the puzzle he was constructing, locking the pieces in own his special master vault, caring for each piece as if it was the most valuable item on the quadrant.

He had a list, Dani saw with some interest, of the places and items he needed to obtain. Most were of the regular type; works of art, pieces of jewelry and a couple of large gems. The monetary value was not as important as the value his clients attached to them, and it seemed the takeover by the Federation led to many people wanting to "preserve" items that may have otherwise been looted.

Dani didn't care. If anything could be taken, it probably should be, especially such valuable items. If Federation First can't guard their own shit, they deserve to be hacked and stolen.

She gave Cardello anything and everything he asked for, watching the list getting shorter and shorter, without question, and without complaint.

Except for one thing. Out of all the list so far, and all the one that is upcoming, there was only a single object she refused to steal.

Cardello tried to hide it, including it in a list of items he marked only with their serial numbers, lumped along with objects that were bigger and smaller, as if she wouldn't notice.

She told him no. No anger, no fury, just her eyes, staring at him, reminding him of the last time she said no. So was his eyes, though, relentless and cold, as he argued, calmly, expecting this. She knew he knew. He knew she knew.

They were stuck in a dance of defiance and control.

He sent her out of his office finally, silently angry, frustrated, and she considered it a win. A small one, but one she will carry with her.

And now they were back; the final excursion, the one everyone thought was the most dangerous, the one that went smoother than their expectations. Ever hers.

Cardello went over them one by one, inspecting the loot quietly, slowly, anticipating the result, marking his list with cold calculation, pausing at the end.

He turned to her then, coldly staring her down. "It's not here."

"No," she stared at him back. "It's not."

For a moment, his face twitched, his jaw tightened, his eyes flared, making everyone in the room uncomfortably weary. Everyone except for Dani. A moment passed, both of them staring at each other intently, ignoring the looks of confused fear from the others in the room.

And then he smiled. A slow, crooked, ugly smile that stretched only one corner of his mouth and didn't touch his eyes. A smile of understanding, of resolution. A smile Dani didn't like, but had to accept.

He finally nodded slowly, his expression stuck in this horrifying glaring smirk, spending a moment more chilling Dani's blood, and then he turned, nodded at Smith and Zett, and walked to his big chair.

"Get some rest. You'll have a new list in the morning."

A dismissal that felt anything but.

* * *

The door crashed closed, which Dani thought was pretty impressive for a sliding door.

"Are you fucking insane?" Zett walked briskly towards her, stopping a few inches from her face. Her furious tone was only tempered by the clear fear in her voice.

"Yes, probably," Dani admitted quietly and pulled a chair out to sit. "But I don't think that's what you mea--"

"Don't joke around, Danielle. Don't you dare. Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

Dani looked up at Zett calmly, considering, then bit her lip and shook her head slightly. "I just couldn't do it. He knew I wouldn't."

"Do what? What.." Zett looked like she was ready to throw the chair out the big window, maybe even with Dani still in it. "You and your goddamn selective moral fucking compass. You've been running around stealing shit for him for a month. What's one more?"

"I will not give Cardello a weapon." Dani stated through gritted teeth, looking at Zett. "Everything else -- everything he asked for, and what he probably will again -- I gave him everything. Technology, prototypes, stupid diamonds like a damn petty criminal," she huffed furiously.

"Just not a gun." Zett shook her head, amazed, "you think he doesn't have guns already, little girl? That he can't get this anywhere else?"

"No. Not this. This wasn't just a gun, Zett, it was a bomb -- a weapon that kills people. Many many people. I won't give that to Cardello."

"Kill people?" Zett turned on her heels, frustrated. "What the fuck do you think we're doing, Dani? What the hell do you think you got back into? Of course he kills people. We all killed people," she turned to glare at the smaller woman. "I killed people."

Dani swallowed and nodded quietly. Of course she knew, but it wasn't something she cared to remind herself often. Or at all.

"There's a difference, Kal--"

"What difference!"

"There's a difference," Dani repeated slowly, "between the type of... things... you do for..." she tried to find the right, gentler-than-it-was word, but settled for "business, and dealing with the prototype of a new ship-to-ship chronoton missile." She looked up, intently. "I won't do it. I told him I won't do it, and I didn't."

"We were in there, Danielle. Inside the warehouse, we were picking everything up. I knew you took issue with this piece, so I picked the plans up myself and put them in the bag."

"Yes. I took them out."

Zett was speechless for a moment.

Dani looked at her. "I've seen what these weapons do, Kal," she shook her head, "I can't even believe the fleet was working on this -- I am not giving it away to Cardello so he can kill hundreds of people in one strike. Or so he sells it to someone who does that on civilian ships. I just won't do it."

"You're out of your fucking mind."

Dani didn't answer.

"Did you see how angry he was? Do you have a death wish?" Zett finally walked over, crouching, staring into Dani's face with eyes that were full of anger and worry.

"He won't kill me, Kal. He needs me." And he won't risk screwing with her contacts. Not now.

"Are you sure about that, little girl?"

Dani blinked, considering, her gaze shifting downwards for a moment. Then she smiled, a smile filled with anger and devoid completely of humor.

"I did favors over the years, Kal, favors to people much much higher up in the food chain than Tom Cardello, or the so narcissitically called 'Cardello Syndicate.'" She looked at Zett, her jaw clenching. "He won't touch me."

Zett took a breath, rising to her feet in frustration, walking around the table with her palm on her forehead. Dani stayed silent.

"You know you'll hear about this," Zett noted, her back to Dani. "He won't just let this go. No matter who you know, Danielle, you just cost him money, and he will make you pay it."

"Whatever price he wants me to pay, I'll pay it." She already owed him half her soul -- what's a little bit more.

Zett huffed in frustration and grabbed her jacket. "It better be something your precious morals can cope with!" she spat and stormed out of the room, leaving Dani in deadly silence.

Whatever price Cardello wants to add onto her existing deals, she'll pay it.

* * *

Danielle Atarah
Grifter / Thief
Earth

Kalina Zett
Captain
Bristol Supply ship
The Cardello Syndicate

 

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