Glinn Giria Palnin - Spiders in the Garden
Doz Finch
((Senate Room, Council Building, Maingard District, Witherington, Indre III))
Of the three nuisances held up in front of her like ghosts, one of them chirped the most and had a particular flamboyant confidence that both amused and fed a particular starvation in Palnin. His bite reminded her of why she loved her life, and loved herself even more. That her beauty and cleverness was so mountainous, casting shadows over everything and everyone around her, that it could invoke such emotional and visceral reactions.
He had the audacity, but the other man had something else. Eyes like two pools of black oil that a person could slip into and suffocate inside. Earthy and yet interestingly the opposite, like the blackness of space. She lingered on him for a moment, lips pursing in hungered thought, and then the quiet one spoke, and her amused expression changed. Her eye-lids dropped and her smile became slight.
At least with the men she could play cat and mouse—this one, however…
E. Reynolds: ::Quietly,:: There’s a lot of dead and grieving colonists who’d argue otherwise.
She sighed, offering the woman a lazy shrug of her shoulders.
Palnin: Oh, there’s more than a lot. In fact, the numbers just grow and grow with every passing day.
Sim: You might as well get on with it; kill us.
Palnin: So vicious. ::her laugh returned:: I like him. He’s got something in him. ::to Erin:: you should take note.
Nkai: What are you hoping to get here? ::He squinted at her with his featureless dark eyes.:: You’ve got to know by now that we don’t centralise information. Even if we break, you’re only going to get scraps. And scraps that become useless as soon as people realise you have us.
The one with the dark eyes spoke, pulling Palnin’s sparkling hazel eyes in his direction. Her smile faded again, replaced with something more wolfish and unblinking. Her posture changed too; her slightly languid and disinterested comportment stiffened, along with the squeezing of her fists beside her, all accompanied by a thoughtful silence that penetrated one’s psyche more than a loud boom or explosion ever could.
She focused on him.
Palnin: No one’s going to realise anything. And you will break. As for "scraps", the bear doesn’t worry about the size of his meal, he simply eats. Unluckily for you, I haven’t eaten in a while. ::she raised a brow:: So let’s not waste anymore time. What is your purpose here.
Sim: Response
Nkai: I don’t know what to tell you. ::He grimaced, sucking in a breath as a stab of pain lanced through his biceps.:: Other than your own people are more likely to screw you over here than we are. You must have wondered why the garrison is so small for a colony of this size. We sure did.
Palnin: I did wonder, actually. But then I am incredibly smart with a particular perspicacity few others possess—I'm something of a genius on Cardassia. But I wouldn’t underestimate the garrison. The complete and total annexation of Indre III is an inevitable end, no matter how many spiders we find in the garden. The question I would like to know is why would you come here and propagate a resistance that continues to expose its people to suffering?
E.Reynolds/Sim/Nkai: Response
Palnin: Now, you cannot actually believe that. These people are being liberated by our military. Given a sense of meaning. A sense of direction. Before we came, like so many others, they were nothing more than lost puppies barking into the skies for spiritual handouts. Now look at Witherington. Made dismal by the actions of three wayward stooges and their riff-raff friends.
E.Reynolds/Sim/Nkai: Response
She laughed again at Sim’s response, pausing only to sigh at the woman’s
Palnin: And how do you propose we do that, exactly?
E.Reynolds/Sim/Nkai: Response
Palnin held her gloved hand up to silence the one speaking. She walked closer to the other woman and looked her up and down, almost with pity.
Palnin: How many of your people are out there, right now?
E.Reynolds/Sim/Nkai: Response
Palnin: Of course, ::yawning:: I could torture it out of you, but I was hoping this would be more of a collaborative effort.
E.Reynolds/Sim/Nkai: Response
Glinn Giria Palnin,
Obsidian Order Expeditionary Force
Cardassian Union
As simmed by,
Ensign Doz Finch
Engineering Officer
C239809SH3