The Right to an Attorney

Posted on Mon Apr 3, 2017 @ 2:22am by Lieutenant JG Leonora Dell & Commander Caleb Ryan & Lieutenant Mikaela Locke & Lieutenant Daniel Rivera

1,339 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Rumours
Location: Lissepian Embassy
Timeline: MD05 1730

[ON]

Leonora Dell materialised inside a cell, small but clean. The force field was down, but she was less than a step towards it when it activated with a hum. "Hey!" she shouted out. "What's going on?" she shouted to the empty room beyond. All she could see was four other cells. A second later the next cell was filled with the red-orange streaks of a transporter beam.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Mikaela Locke exclaimed as she materialised in the next door cell. Like Dell before her, she took a pace towards the door of her cell, but found her path immediately blocked by a force field. She glanced across at the ops officer occupying the adjacent pod. "You got any idea what's going on here?"

Leonora shook her head. "There were these two guys that stopped me on the Promenade. Next thing I knew I was here."

Dan Rivera was next to appear. He immediately did what panicked prisoners often did. He tried to shoulder his way through the force field. With a loud zap it knocked him down to the deck, wincing in pain. His next move was to tap his comm badge. "Lieutenant Rivera to Security!" There was no reply. His comm badge was off line. It was then he noticed that others were here. "What the hell's going on?"

“Security is here,” Caleb replied from the last cell. His force field as active, as well, and the tall Texan was eying how well it fit in the door, trying to locate where the emitters might be and if he could get access. “Don’t know what’s goin’ on, but nobody panic.” He looked over at Leonora. “Lissepians?” he asked her. “Bounty hunters, likely. Though who did we piss off enough ta get a bounty?” he mused.

A moment later a small Lissepian woman in a dark formal suit, the same one who had approached Mikaela, entered the outer chamber. Two heavyset men that would loom over her if she wasn't so obviously in charge entered behind her and stood on either side of the door. "Good evening, everyone. I am Lucent Spirr, undersecretary to the Lissepian Embassy. I am here to inform you that you are all under arrest for the murder of Relon Murak and Bretav Gael on Cardassia IV in 2370. Since this was a time of war, the murder of civilian children is considered a war crime, and we are holding you in line with the Seldonis IV Convention. We have notified the Federation diplomatic corp, and when they have arranged your attorneys you will be permitted to speak with them. We have also notified the Cardassian embassy that you have been arrested, and are in our custody. If you have any questions, I will answer to the best of my ability."

“What?” Caleb said, staring at the alien. “Ya’ll have no authority to kidnap Starfleet personnel and hold them illegally in your embassy,” he said. “We informed the Cardassians of what happened. We did not shoot those children. In fact, we brought one back ta save his life!” Caleb’s knuckles were white as he clenched the edges of his doorway. This hit close to home. He had tried to save that boy.

Spirr put her head on one side and listened carefully whilst Ryan spoke. "Under the conditions of the Seldonis Convention we have the ability to detain and arrest anyone accused of a war crime, when the warrants are available. We were recently served with warrants for your arrest. I apologise for the abrupt nature of your arrest, but this is a diplomatic matter now. We do not intend to restrict access to your legal team, but since you are charged with war crimes, and are considered flight risks, we cannot release you at this point. Are there any further questions, or requests? We will do our best to accommodate."

"We demand to communicate with our superior officers immediately," Rivera said, clutching his own shoulder. It was still smarting in the spot where the force field had shocked him. The pain only made him angrier than he already was.

Spirr turned her precise, gaze on him. "We can arrange that. Are you injured? Do you require medical attention."

"Wouldn't mind," Dan replied, staring back at her, "but I want to see one of our own medical people. Not yours."

“Ya’ll could have gone through appropriate channels with this instead of kidnapping,” Caleb reminded. “Ah guarantee Starfleet and the Federation will not countenance this.

"I appreciate your frustration, Commander. But we have acted strictly within the letter of the accords, and they allow signatories to make arrests of any one indicted for war crimes. We chose to act on our own initiative. Channels here have become notoriously...unreliable."

“Ah’m not so sure these warrants are at all legal,” Caleb said. “They would have come across mah desk if they were,” he pointed out. “Ah was in charge of that mission, so if anyone needs ta be tried, take me an’ let them go.” He nodded to the others in the cells across from him.

"The warrants are quite specific. We will forward copies to your captain, if she hasn't had them already. So for now, I'm afraid you must endure together. We have no intention of separating you, but please understand that our conversations will be monitored."

Caleb looked to the others. “No one says anything,” he told them. “Name, rank, serial number. That’s it.” He glared at the Lissepian. “Ya don’t talk ta anyone but me. Ah’m the rankin’ officer here.”

"I'm sure that will be acceptable for ourselves. It will be up to the prosecuting team from Cardassia who they want to talk to. We will ensure that you are not questioned without your legal team though."

"We're not cooperating with any damned Cardassians!" Rivera shot back.

“Nor will the Federation agree ta any extradition of Starfleet personnel ta foreign space, especially given what passes for justice in Cardassia,” Caleb said dismissively.

"I understand your fear, and your frustration, but please realise that this all is now a matter for the international courts. I have no feelings about your guilt or innocence, and once the courts have made their decisions I will turn you over to the relevant authority. Your co-operation, or not, with those courts is entirely your own affair." That stated, she looked round once again. "Any final requests for this evening?"

Dan Rivera opened his mouth to make a final request entailing what Spirr could go do with herself, but relented. Ryan was keeping a level head, so he would heed the Commander's orders and do the same. He went to the bunk and plopped down, saying nothing more.

Caleb looked over at the others. He needed to do something to keep their spirits up. “We want steaks for dinner,” he said. “All the fixin’s.” He would see just how hospitable the Yridians were willing to be.

"Of course. We will send someone to take dinner orders shortly." The Lissepian seemed imperturbable. "Anyone else?"

Locke simply shook her head. By this point, she had resorted to leaning up against the wall of her cell, her arms folded in front of her. It was, in part, resignation that nothing that they were going to say or do was going to get them out of their current situation, but it was also intended as a distraction: If the Lissepians thought that she didn't care, they might miss the fact that she very much cared; in fact, she was watching every move, noting every vocal cue, desperately trying to find something that might help them.

The Lissepian woman gave a small bow. "Then I shall leave you in peace. We will provide food shortly. Thank you for your cooperation."

::OFF::

Lucent Spirr
Lissepian Deputy Ambassador,

Ltjg. Leonora Dell
Acting Chief Operations Officer

Cmdr. Caleb Ryan
Chief of Security/Tactical

Lt. Dan Rivera
Shipyard Repair Officer

 

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