Personal Log - Dani, Zett, Smith - A lunatic's plan - Earth VIII

Posted on Sat Sep 6th, 2014 @ 11:07pm by Danielle Atarah

3,016 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Are You Touched?
Location: Earth

"You've got to be shitting me." This statement, so brazen and abrupt, came out of Smith's mouth with such poison, the room seemed to become darker.

Zett gave him a stern look, but Dani ignored him, inspecting the blueprints in front of her. "Times must be rough for Cardello to ask for a bank heist," she smirked and tapped the button to switch floors, examining the basement, and then the roof.
Might want to move it to Security may
"You're not seriously thinking about doing this in the middle of the day." Smith tried his luck again, his face turning redder and redder, his anger intensifying by Dani's ignoring treatment.

Dani sighed and turned to face him, shaking her head as if speaking to a child. "We need to get into the MarketShare bank," she gestured towards the window. The bank wasn't visible from the floor they were in, but it did exist in the general direction across the bay. "A bank that is in the middle of the city, and is known to not only be extra secure, but to also cater to some not-so-pleasant people from Federation One."

"Federation First," Zett chimed in, but zipped her lips with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, whatever," Dani shook her head and continued. "Do you know what happens to a really really secure place in a shotty neighborhood during the night?" She gave Smith a condescending look, and Zett had to shift herself slightly behind Dani's form, to make sure her dirty looks hit their marks, and Smith restrains himself.

"They close." He muttered angrily.

"And that's why I'm the brain and you're the... muscle." She gave him a condescending look at shook her head. "They don't just close, Mr. Smith, they lock down. Everyone leaves and automated systems are turned on," she turned to gesture at the blueprints. "Motion sensors that can reconize a fruit fly, weighing systems, air pressure and vacuum pumps, and that's without mentioning the array of heat sensitive cameras and bioneural sensor array," she pointed at the pictures and turned back to face the taller man. "We have as much of a chance to get in there during the night as you have to get laid without paying for it first."

He glared at her, and gritted his teeth. "There are guards during the day, people are walking in and out of that vault, bank tellers, clerks, police officers, Federation officers," he counted on his fingers and Dani had to bite her lip to not comment on the gesture. "The place is crawling with armed guards. And Feds, all over the place, with fucking machine guns, you little squirt. Have you ever faced a machine gun before? I don't care how quick you are, you're splattered all over the nearest wall within a sixth of a second."

"Yeah. Machine guns. Those are a bummer." She allowed, sarcastic, "But do you know why the guards carry machine guns during the day? Because the place is so crawing with activity that all the other systems and sensors and traps are..." she smiled at him, as if encouraging him to answer, "down." She mouthed the word and watched his reddening face.

He stared at her angrily, his adam's apply working overtime as he swallowed, trying to control himself.

"Knock it off, little girl," Zett finally commented, but Dani was having way too much fun to comply. This was her domain -- her expertise. This is what she lived for most of her life before being forced into Starfleet, and then even in the fleet, it's what she fantasized about, what she trained for, what most of her super secret holo programs were designed with.

She was back to her roots now. She was home.

"Don't you worry, Mr. Smith, you just make sure you have your eyes on that," she marked a circle with her fingers on the blueprints and looked at him, "and leave the actual sneaking in to me."

"How the hell are you planning to get into that damn vault?"

Dani smiled. Even Zett smiled.

"Very very carefully."

* * *

"You know, one day he's just going to beat you senseless, little girl."

Dani and Zett sat at two of the five plush sofas at the entrance of the bank as they waited.

Dani huffed a laugh, "Cardello will have his dick chopped off. And that," she smirked at Zett, "almost makes my bloody nose worth it."

"It's going to be a lot worse than a bloody nose," Zett noted and smiled politely at the man who made their way towards them. Dani got up and straightened her suit. There was no need to ask the woman next to her if she knew what she needed to do. This day will either end with success, or with disaster.

Dani wasn't worried in the least.

* * *

"Well, that was fun," Dani smiled and hopped into the waiting car.

"What's next?" Smith glanced up at her through the console.

"I'm hungry," Dani declared with a smile. "Let's go out and eat something."

Zett shook her head with a small smile. Smith, annoyed, clicked the buttons and the shuttle took off.

* * *

"Man I missed those burgers," Dani closed her eyes with a blissful expression and chewed, savoring the juicy meat between soft buns.

"No burgers on a... ship?" Smith asked, electing not to pronounce "Starfleet" in public.

"We had 'em, but they were usually replicated. Most food was replicated. Until the Griffin. We had a chef there."

"You poor thing," Zett shook her head in exaggerated dismay and plucked a french fry from the tray. "How the hell did you survive?"

Dani swallowed, nodding sagely. "You need to be a really strong person," she smirked and turned the burger around, biting into a fresh portion.

Smith shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Well," Zett wiped her mouth with a napkin, "now you can start fixing that problem. Even under the current situation, most restaurants reopened for the public."

Dani's mouth was too full to answer, so she nodded instead, gesturing a hoot with her free hand, chewing contently.

Smith huffed in frustration, squirmed in his seat, and leaned forward, giving Dani a deadly look. Zett tensed.

"I hope you remember we have a deadline, Fleet" he spat that last word out in a poisonous whisper. "I'm getting tired of your damn games."

Dani shrugged.

"The plan is crazy as it stands," he continued whispering angrily, "without your fucked up distractions." Zett leaned forward, but Smith ignored her. Dani just stared at him impassively through her burger. "Not only are you insane enough to have us walk into a fucking Fed bank in broad fucking daylight, your little shenanigans put us all at risk. Bathroom break? Really? A burger stop? I don't give a shit about your stupid little neck, you little bitch, you're putting us all at risk. Do you have any idea what they'd do to us if we're caught!"

Zett cleared her throat. Smith took a breath, then another, and leaned backwards. Dani chewed, then swallowed.

"We're not going to get caught, Mr. Pessimist. Everything is going according to plan."

"Plan??" He almost yelled that part, but caught himself in the middle of the word, repeating it more quietly in dismay. "What fucking plan? It's just you going on a fucking field trip like it's the second grade. I don't know where Cardello found you, but you are completely and utterly insane, you little bitch."

"Alright, enough." Zett warned, giving her deputy a deadly look.

"You better be right about this..." Smith looked at his superior, clearly having trouble forcing himself to back off.

"I am." Zett stared at him.

Dani bit through her burger, hiding a smile. The plan wasn't crazy. The plan was sheer insanity, which is why it works. Most plans looked insane to the untrained eye, and most places had strong defenses against the most elaborate plans their security people could think of -- but very few had managed to prevent a completely and stupidly insane one, no matter how simple.

And part of the fun in this particular plan was the opportunity for jerking Smith's chain about all day. Loudly.

"This is going to be fun," she winked at Smith and took the last bite of her burger.

* * *

Smith and Zett sat quietly with two glasses of ale and a currently abandoned cup of steaming hot chocolate, staring at the dark street outside. Smith didn't say a word for over an hour, grinding his teeth through Dani's adventure-day, which included a quick visit to the National Gallery and a brief fly-over at the Golden Gate Bridge. And now he sat, boiling, drinking his ale slowly, occasionally glancing to the dark street outside.

"Curfew is up in an hour," Zett noted, sipping her ale. "People are going to start leaving the bank soon," she gestured outside the window at the large building.

Smith's eyes were drawn to the shuttles; there were about ten of those, parked all over the street, some had the bank logo on them, and some Federation markings. All were heavily armed. Some even armored. He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze back to his drink, maybe hoping the cool bubbly liquid will chill his clearly boiling blood.

"She really is good, Aldus. She's a smartass with an attitude," Zett smiled, "but she's good."

Smith grunted and shook his head. "She's a fucking lunatic. And you," he gave Zett an appraising look, as if worried, which he probably was. "You and her..." he shook his head again. "Your history is clouding your judgment, Kalina."

"My judgment is perfect." She fired at him poisonously, and looked at the empty seat where Dani sat just a moment ago.

"Whatever it was between you two, she's going to get us all killed. Look at this," he gestured at the street with his head, "a fucking nightmare. Swarming with the people we've been spending our entire lives running away from."

"You're just not used to planet-side work."

"I don't give a shit where the work is done," Smith whispered angrily. "I just prefer not to test my damn luck with Federation First people. Not with our history," he looked at Zett again. "I care about your safety."

She nodded. "I know. Don't worry."

"I do worry. She's going to get you killed."

Zett looked at her deputy for a moment, examining his eyes silently. They had a past too, a rather long one, and while it was pretty much platonic, she had no doubt the man was not lying. She smiled at him, and put her arm on his. "I can take care of myself, Aldus. So can you. And so can she."

He huffed, shaking his head, and then leaned back when Dani returned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well. That was fun," she looked between Zett and Smith a moment, and then slid into the boot seat. "Not ruining a moment, am I?"

Zett shifted in the seat and answered before Smith could. "That took you a while. All good?"

"Yep. Good they have such a big bathroom here," she gestured with a smirk, and picked up her mug for a small sip, "there was a line. Come on. Let's go."

They got out of the booth and walked outside, Smith's eyes darting around nervously all the way to the shuttle.

"So what now," Smith whispered as they got inside, his eyes still looking outside the viewport at the armed men in the street.

"Fly us home, Jironimo." Dani declared and plopped into the passenger seat in the back, settling herself with a yawn. "Come on, you had a big day today, Zett can fly us home."

"Home?" His eyes darted towards her, his face reddening again. "We can't go back yet," he tried to control his tone, and took a breath. "We're supposed to go in there," he gestured. "Isn't that the final stage of your plan" he spat that word with such disgust, Dani was worried he may vomit.

"Oh. Right. The "plan"." She smiled. "Yeah, I'm rethinking the plan. You were right. There are too many armed soldiers out. We'll go home, settle in for the evening, maybe come back tomorrow for another go. You'll be right on time for the last bit of your favorite kids' shows on T--"

He jumped, quick as a leopard, grabbing her by the throat so quickly the word cut out along with her trapped breath.

"I've had enough of your games, Starfleet," he warned, and Zett jumped over the pilot's seat to hold his arm back.

"Stop it!" Zett called, pulling him off Dani, "let her go, Smith, right now!"

He did, but it was clear he was considering. A truly bad move had he done anything else, for sure, but an even worse move for Dani. He pulled back finally, letting go of the smaller woman's neck. Dani took a desperate breath and coughed, her fingers touching her swelling throat.

"We can't go back," he declared at Zett but pointed at the coughing woman at his feet, "we can't go back until we have what Cardello wanted."

"We're going wherever we need to," Zett pushed him aside and bent down to look at Dani. The smaller woman shook her head and climbed back to the passenger seat.

"What," Dani croaked, then cleared her throat, breathing hard, her fingers still feeling through what would probably become a bruise on her neck. "What Cardello wants?" she looked up at Smith and put a hand inside her jacket, pulling out a small packet. "You mean this?"

Smith stared at her. Even Zett stared at her now, confused.

Dani tossed the packet at Zett and leaned back in the passenger seat, catching her breath, her fingers measuring the damage to the skin on her neck. Zett opened the packet, exposing a small rectangular crystal chip.

"You had this all along?" Smith growled furiously, giving Zett a look that could mark Dani's end. The Trill stood up to hold him back.

"You had us going to a fucking field trip all day and you had that all along?!"

"Relax," Dani croaked and shook her head. "I just picked it up. It's over. We're done. You did well and all that," she pulled on her collar for air, "except this."

"Picked it up where! You didn't get into that bank since we left it this morning." The big man pushed Zett's arm away, but then turned to hold the railing near the door, his knuckles white.

"I didn't pick it up from the bank."

Both the Trill and the large human gave Dani a serious look. Zett's confused, Smith's furious.

Dani shook her head and coughed, brushing a hand over her neck. She probably deserved that, she admitted, though Smith was simply too good of a mark to taunt. And it was worth it. Completely, utterly, purely worth it, just to see the expression of shock on his oafish face.

Smith finally let out a grunt that was full of frustration and dismay, and then sat -- collapsed, really -- into the pilot's seat. "I'm done with this shit." He declared, and turned the seat to the controls, activating the shuttle's engines.

Zett watched him, still baffled, and then turned to face Dani, lowering herself to be on eye level with the woman sitting on the chair.

"You're lucky I was here," she muttered, lifting Dani's chin to look at her neck. It wasn't too bad, Smith was clearly holding back, and Zett had a feeling she will hear about this soon, loudly, from her deputy. It was okay, though. He will hear about it back. Whatever bruises popped on Dani's neck now, will pepper his skin tomorrow. If it was up to her, they'll appear specifically on delicate organs.

And it was, for the most part, up to her.

"Eh," Dani smiled, "I'm okay. He's just pissed he's not smart enough to figure out how I did it." She glanced at the pilot's seat. Smith, clearly hearing them, and even more clearly ignoring them, continued to tap controls as the shuttle floated higher towards the San Francisco bay.

"Hm," Zett muttered, looking at Dani with warning in her eyes. "He's a good guy, Danielle," she whispered, leaning closer to inspect Dani's throat and whisper closer in her ear. "He's been by my side for over five years now. I trust him."

Dani made a face. "He's a violent bullying oaf."

"He's my violent bullying oaf," Zett noted, and Dani looked at her, examining the seriousness on her face.

"Fine." She finally allowed, annoyed. "Fine. I'll back off. But only if he does," she pointed, but her finger was grabbed firmly, gently, and hijacked into the Trill's palm.

"This will never happen again," she brushed a finger on Dani's neck and nodded at her. "But you better stop pushing him around, little girl. Even my loyal violent oafs have their limits."

Dani sighed. "Fine."

"Good." Zett got up and walked over to the front, sitting in the copilot's seat. Smith ignored her intently, furiously.

"Touch her again, Aldus, and I will kill you." There was no need for colorful analogies or creative threats. The man ground his teeth for a moment, then looked at the Trill. Kalina Zett's face was calm, but her eyes exposed the danger that lurked underneath. There was a reason she climbed high enough to be the Captain of one of the syndicate's most advanced supply ships. Smith knew only some of those reasons, but they were enough.

He took a quick breath and nodded crisply. "It won't happen again."

"Good," she smiled, her eyes still sharp on his. "Then we don't need to tell Cardello about this."

The shuttle bounced and floated, its occupants remaining in complete silence for the rest of the ride.

* * *

Danielle Atarah
Grifter / Thief
Earth

Kalina Zett
Captain
Bristol Supply ship
The Cardello Syndicate


Aldus Smith
Second in Command
Bristol Supply ship
The Cardello Syndicate

 

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