Lasiter just stared at the three for a moment.... Then, "Commander Dais
what are your thoughts on this matter? Is it worth the diplomatic trouble
it will cause to get this Allso fellow to cooperate with you?"
Not waiting for an answer, Lasiter continued with some questions for K'Tael.
"Commander K'Tael, is this case related to any others that you are currently
working on? Will solving this case present evidence or gain witnesses that
will close those other cases? If I can secure this Allso fellow can you
gaurantee me a conviction in this or other cases."
Now he waited to see just how they would respond.
K'Tael jumped in before Dais had a chance to respond. It would probably
affect the Commander's response. "Sir, there is a real strong chance that
this investigation *could* lead us to close some of the other cases my
department is working on. The Bajorans have repeatedly come to the fore in
our investigations. At the same time, there is no way that I can guarantee a
conviction. I can pull together evidence that will help build a case, but I
am neither a lawyer to present a case or a sitting jury member to help decide
a verdict. All I can say is that this will most likely point us in the right
direction in a number of cases." K'Tael could only hope his
honesty and frankness would help Lasiter understand the situation better.
Dais Had been about to tell Lasiter that he thought it was worth the
diplomatic strain to bring this investigation to the fore. "Sir, if I might
add, I have a feeling that there is more to this hand than meets the eye. We
have recordings that show high officials at the consulate are connected with
this. We cannot allow diplomatic immunity to be used as an excuse for
murdering Federation citizens. The hand is human."
"The fact remains that Starfleet is not a law enforcement institution, and our
claim to jurisdiction is tenuous at best." Lasiter stopped long enough to
take in a slow deep breath.
"The tight rope that we must walk, gentlemen, is not simply a Starfleet issue,
but one of the civilian, diplomatic, and political issue. If we misstep we,
meaning Starfleet, will get bogged down in a quagmire of scandal that will
make Starfleet look terribly bad and stagnate any reform proposal that is sent
before the President and the Federation Council. This is something that we
can not afford in our current state of affairs. However, on the otherhand if
we are careful and succeed, we will have taken the first major step in
reshaping and reforming the fleet.
So with that in mind answer this... Will this be a protracted ordeal, or will
this be quick? Can you resolve this case without Mr. Allso? Can you solve
the other open investigations without this? What are you going to do to make
sure that we do not misstep?"
{response}
