The turbolift ride down to Customs did not take long. He saw Lt. Thompson
and made his way over to the younger officer. "What can I do for you,
Lieutenant?"
"Commander, thank you for comming. There is a Bajoran in the interview
room over there {he indicates a room just down the hall}, and it appears
that some of his paper work is not quite right. He has all of it, but not
certain authorizations are required for carrying certain controlled
subatances. Here is where it gets sticky. This Bajoran is a member of the
diplomatic mission from Bajor. He has certain diplomatic immunity because
of that. The Bajoran Ambassador, while being very promenient, is also very
anxious to get this representative through Customs quickly. That is why I
have been called. I was hoping that you could help, in your role as station
XO, to ease this situation without drawing too much attention from the large
contingent of press or brass. If you know what I mean...."
The Trill nodded. to indicate that he understood. Remembering what he had
heard in Ops about the current status of some of the investigations, Dais
decided to get a little bit more information before going to talk with the
Barjoran diplomats. "What controlled substances were in the Bajoran's
custody?"
"Well, sir that is part of the problem. We can not search him, at least
not legally. Now, when I got here Customs had searched his bags, which is
perfectly legal. However they were in the process of searching his
person, and I ordered that stopped at once. I did not want to proceed any
further down the road to a major diplomatic incident without seeing if there
was a way to prevent it. If you know what I mean.
That being said he does have a couple of bottles of contraband liquor on
him, and a personal weapon. The booze is a non issue for a diplomat. A
minor thing not to be worried about, but the weapon... we can confiscate
that, and he can go on his way. A no no, but nothing to make a big deal
over. Customs is trying to make a deal of it though... Now the other
item... well, that is on his person. Customs scanned it, and knows what it
is but is not willing to share information. Particularily with me since I
stopped their search."
"What was the item? I know that we cannot do anything about it since the
search was an illegal one, but I would like to know what I am dealing with."
"The Customs officers would not give that information to me, but perhaps
they woudl give it to you. I mean, sir, it is not difficult to
ignore an officer from diplomatic affairs, but it is another thing to ignore
the station XO. Particularily when you can exercise Starfleet's rights to
take jurisdiction in the matter."
"You need not worry on that count, Lieutenant. I plan on having a
conversation with our customs official ASAP." Dais paused befor continuing,
"Is there any way to confirm whether his paperwork is valid?"
"Oh that I have done. His paper work is all set as a diplomat. He
thought that he could get the personal weapon (aka a tasser like device,
stun only)through with the paper work he has as he is carring sensative
documents for the Bajoran Ambassador. If he turns over the tasser he shold
be able to go free. From what I can tell, that is why Customs is detaining
him."
After getting all the information he thought he needed, Dais thanked the
Lieutenant before heading toward the interview room in which the Bajoran
was being held. He had to admit that this was going to be his first time
dealing with Diplomatic Immunity, but he was sure that this was not going to
be the last time.
"I would like to start by welcoming you to Spacedock," stated the Trill
simply.
"Thank you, Commander." the Bajoran said quite unhappily.
Thompson was in tow, as diplomatic affairs officer. Also in the room were a
pair of Customs officers.
"I am Commander Jonar Dais, Executive Officer of the station."
"Good day Commander. Lieutenant." the Bajoran said obviously not
happy that he had been detained, questioned, and searched.
"Well, I think that we can resolve this situation fairly quickly. I
apologize for our overly diligent Customs officers. I hope that you have
not been inconvenienced too much by all of this. the fact of the matter is
that the only problem we have here is your personal weapon. From what I
understand, it was through your own admission that customs gained knowledge
of the weapon."
"And he was acting suspicious," added one of the Customs agents
dryly.
Dais glared non-to-kindly at the Customs agent before continuing. "I
believe that I have a resolution to this problem, sir. If you turn the
weapon over to our custody, I will turn it over to Security, where it will
remain until you are ready to leave the station. At that time, the weapon
will be returned to you as you go upon yout merry way." Dais realized that
this was probably not the normal procedure, but it could prevent the Bajoran
from making a big fuss that could capture the attention of the press.
The Customs officers rolled their eyes. This was not a good idea to
them.
"I think that would be acceptable, Commander." the Bajoran replied.
Dais extended his hand to accept the weapon. "I thought you might," he said
waiting for the weapon to be handed over. "Again, I apologize for any
inconvenience this even has had for you."
(response)
Once the Bajoran official was out of the room, Dais turned back to the two
customs officials still in the room. His anger was evident if controlled.
"Now, gentlemen, I assume that you had a very good reason for almost
causing a diplomtic incident with the Bajoran representative. What was it?"
(response)
Jack
_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
