The Good That Men Do - Andy Mangels [77]
“Indeed there is, Captain.”
Better, Archer thought, swiftly damping his frustration back down. Aloud, he said, “What do I have to do, Administrator?”
“You must demonstrate reasonable suspicion that an Adigeon business agent has knowingly participated in a transaction that is either fraudulent or otherwise prohibited under Adigeon law.”
Now we’re finally getting somewhere, Archer thought as he nodded to the Adigeon official. “Administrator, a member of the Orion Syndicate has informed us that Orion slavers have arranged to ship a group of thirty-seven Aenar telepaths to an anonymous client, using an Adigeon business agent as a broker. Because of a previous encounter between Starfleet and the Romulan military, we have good reason to believe that the Romulan Star Empire is the client slated to receive those telepaths. Unless the Adigeon agent brokering this transaction is found and stopped, Administrator, your world could be party to a serious crime against the Aenar people, and the world of Andoria.”
I knew those Stanford law courses would pay off eventually, Archer thought, proud of the case he’d just made.
After Archer had finished, the bird-creature regarded him in silence for perhaps an entire minute; the administrator’s rapidly nictitating ocular membranes provided the only evidence that the avian being was still alive.
Finally the administrator said, “Do you claim that the Aenar telepaths procured by the Orions do not possess the abilities required by the brokerage agreement, or have not been delivered in the contractually mandated condition?”
“No, Administrator Khoulka’las,” Archer said, his frustration roaring right back to where it had been moments ago, just beneath the surface. “And I don’t understand the relevance of any of that. What I am claiming is that the abduction of these people is what constitutes the crime needed as a pretext to allow us access to the relevant business records.”
The administrator assayed a barn owl’s version of a shrug. “That is as may be, Captain. But it is also irrelevant. So far you have described no crime that has occurred within the bounds of my jurisdiction. You have presented no evidence that an Adigeon broker has misrep-resented his services to a client, nor committed any other act of business malfeasance or misfeasance. Adigeon Prime’s sacred veil of privacy must therefore remain in place. I’m afraid I cannot help you.”
“Administrator Khoulka’las, if you’ll just—”
“Good day, Captain,” the administrator said, interrupting. His image vanished from the screen half an instant later, the connection broken from the other end.
“Dammit,” Archer muttered as he stared at the viewscreen’s depiction of the blue-green world that continued making its stately rotation hundreds of kilometers below.
“I should have mentioned the Coalition,” Archer said, half to himself. “Complicity in an attack against one member world is the same as complicity in an attack against all the member worlds. Khoulka’las might have ice water in his veins, but I doubt that even he would want to get sideways with five other planets all at once.”
“Unfortunately,” T’Pol said, “the Compact’s mutual defense provisions will not be in force until after the document is signed. The Aenar abduction, and all crimes related to it, have so far been committed prior to that time.”
Archer suddenly remembered exactly why he’d decided to change his major from prelaw after his freshman year at Stanford.
“Perhaps you should simply have offered him a bribe.” Archer was momentarily startled by Shran’s voice, which had come from directly behind him. “I hear they like platinum here. As well as something called latinum.”
Archer turned to face the Andorian, who stood beside Theras in the bridge’s upper aft section. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, Shran. I thought you’d have preferred that I offer him a brace of photonic torpedoes instead.”
Shran appeared somewhat stupefied