In The Family
Chapter 14
"Going so soon? I wouldn't hear of it.
Why my little party's just beginning."
"Wicked Witch of the West"
Wizard of Oz
Jim looked around Doris' living room. Everything looked splendid. The wooden floor and the antique furniture gleamed softly in the subdued late afternoon light. The flowers had been delivered earlier and were placed advantageously in the foyer, the main food table, and the beautiful carved low tea table. They were indeed beautiful, fresh, lush, and showy. The large vase sitting on the foyer table was lavishly filled with roses, lavender, and sweet peas, the colors of the flowers set off by the white delicate baby's breath. The other two smaller arrangements were filled with carnations, peonies, and freesias, the bright pink colors of the carnations and peonies, contrasting with the yellow freesias and the assortment of greenery surrounding the flowers. The Nara gardeners had done themselves proud with their best flower selections for Doris's birthday party.
Although it was still early, Jim, Bones, and Spock were already dressed in their civilian clothing, phasers discreetly tucked away. Jim and Bones' phasers were in the inside pocket of their suit jackets, and Spock's was hidden inside his Vulcan dress tunic. Bones had protested about carrying a phaser, but Jim had insisted, ordered it actually, so it was done. Officers Marchan and Timmons were like wise similarly clothed, phasers also discreetly hidden.
Jim had discussed the need for phasers with Doris and, although, at first she'd been reluctant to agree, she'd finally given in. It was best to take no chances, especially if the Antares Managers arrived with their body guards.
The birthday party guest list was not large, Doris' small house precluded that. However, the guest list included the President of the University, the Governor of the colony, Doris' Terra Forming Department colleagues, a few of the volunteers, Officers Marchan and Timmons, Giotto, Styles, Sulu, Jim, Bones, Spock, and Mayri, the list guaranteeing a good number of guests would be present for the actual celebration of Doris' birthday.
The caterers had already set up the food on the kitchen table, keeping everything cold or warm and fresh in their special stasis platters. A snowy white tablecloth, linen napkins, china, crystal glasses, and silverware gleamed softly, and were set out on the buffet table. The caterers had done themselves proud with the selection of food they'd prepared for Dr. Stemple. Several platters were filled with an assortment of food: cheese and bacon scones, two large Stilton, apple, and walnut salads, sausage rolls, potato cakes, cheesy stuffed olives, mini quiches, and mushroom and spinach pasta. The tall birthday cake was in pride of place in the middle of the table placed on top of a tall crystal cake platter. It was a three layered carrot cake, which was a favorite of Doris, and, Jim remembered with amusement, of Bones too. Mayri had made quite sure her hero would enjoy the birthday dessert.
It was still early when Doris and Mayri came out of the bedroom dressed for the occasion. Bones grinned at them and gave a soft wolf whistle. "Wow, you two look absolutely splendid."
"Thank you, Dr. McCoy," Mayri said shyly. She looked questionably at Doris. "What is that whistling sound that Dr. McCoy made, Dr. Stemple? What does it mean?"
Jim laughed when he saw Bones turn red. "That, Mayri, is called a wolf whistle. In ancient days it was a sound made to show interest in an attractive woman. Back then, it was considered inappropriate and improper, even offensive, for a man to whistle like that, but these days on Earth, it just shows approval for just about anything in general. You don't hear it much anymore, because it's rather archaic. Interestingly, the wolf whistle originated in the distant past from the old Terran Navy's "Turn to Call. The sound was made with a type of whistle called a pipe. You may not know this, Mayri, but Starfleet has kept many old Terran Naval traditions, including rank names, ships' names, ships' directions like starboard, fore and aft, and descriptors of the interior of a ship, like deck, crew quarters, bulkhead, and mess."
Mayri nodded solemnly, her small face serious, taking in Jim's explanation. To her way of thinking, if Dr. McCoy wanted to use an ancient sounding whistle to show his approval, she was absolutely fine with that. She would practice the whistle until she, too, could make that sound to show her own approval about things.
Looking at the pink faced Leonard, Doris glanced over at the grinning Jim and bit her lip in amusement. Time to change the subject before poor Leonard turned even redder.
"I certainly hope everything goes according to plan, Jim."
"Jim's real good with planning, Doris," Leonard assured her, regaining his normal color.
"Thanks, Bones, I certainly hope this plan works out. Mr. Sulu, Mr. Giotto and Mr. Styles from Security will beam down in a few minutes. Everyone will be in civilian attire so none of us will stand out."
"Do you really think the Antares guys will show up with their body guards, Jim?"
"Yeah, Bones, I do. And now I can share the plans Officer Marchan and I made." His hazel eyes twinkled as he glanced at Mayri who smiled radiantly at him. When Jim had shared his plan with her, and her part in it, Captain Kirk had completely redeemed himself in her eyes. "Mayri sent the Antares managers a message yesterday morning right after she and Spock came back from her dorm. At my request, she apologized profusely to the Antares managers for the late notice, but, she told them, that in the invitation, she had neglected to mention that the birthday party was a surprise for Dr. Stemple . So she was asking all the guests to arrive 20 minutes earlier than she had stated in the invitation. She asked them to please send her a confirmation that the change in plans was fine with them, and they coulf arrive on time for the surprise.
With she had done that with the Antares managers, I then asked Mayri to comm all the other guests, tell the rest of them to delay their arrival by 45 minutes, giving them the same reason, that the party was going to be a surprise for Dr. Stemple. She also asked everyone to be punctual so as not to ruin the surprise. I wanted us to have a little cushion of time between the arrival of the Antares managers, their arrest, and beam up to the Enterprise brig, before the rest of the guests arrived."
"And did all the guests confirm the change in plans, Jim?"
"The Antares managers confirmed right away, then the rest of guests did too. Luckily the guest list isn't large. When the Antares managers and their body guards arrive, we three will already be here. Mayri, Sulu, Commander Giotto, and Mr. Styles will be here too, as well the two Nara police officers, all of us in civilian party attire. To the Antares managers, it will only look as if some of the guests have already arrived. As soon as the four men are inside the house, Officers Marchan, Timmons, Commander Giotto, and his officer will arrest them immediately, put them in stasis cuffs, and they'll be beamed to the Enterprise brig."
He raised a hand to stop Bones protest. "It's the only way, since Nara has no jail. The prison ship the Admiral is sending is already well underway, so we won't have to hold them in our brig for long. We'll stay in orbit until the prison ship arrives and officially turn them over to the prison ship Commander…and the Antares attorneys, too, if they want to travel with their clients.
Doris, when it's close to arrival time, I want you to go and stay in your study until we call you out. It won't look like much of a birthday surprise if they see you out here and it will raise warning flags."
"Of course, Jim. Just tell me when you want me to go and I'll leave."
The ping of his communicator interrupted him. "Kirk here."
"Captain. 'Tis Mr. Scott here. Lt. Sulu, Commander Giotto, and Lt. Styles are ready to beam down."
"Are all three dressed in civilian attire, Scotty? Please look them over, I don't want anything to identify them as Enterprise officers."
"Aye, Sir. They are, and looking mighty spiffy they are too," Scotty chuckled.
Jim grinned, knowing Sulu, Giotto, and Styles could hear Scotty. "Beam them down to the coordinates I left with you, Scotty."
"Aye, Sir. Beaming them down now."
With the usual bell like jingle, Giotto, Styles, and Sulu beamed into the living room.
Jim looked them over, and just as Scotty said, they did indeed look spiffy. "Gentlemen, good to see you. Mr. Giotto, Mr. Styles, let me introduce you to Dr. Stemple."
"A pleasure, Dr. Stemple," the ever gallant Giotto said. Styles just nodded to her shyly.
"You and Styles take a quick look around the house, Frank, but I want you to mostly familiarize yourself with the two rooms here. We'll try to corral the four of them in one area and keep ourselves in a group here. I think the two body guards will stay close to the two managers. That's their jobs after all. You have their pictures to identify them with, but they'll be pretty conspicuous. We'll try to do all this fast, get them out of here quickly and up to the ship. Frank, you have a security detail in the transporter room waiting?"
"Yes, Captain. I have five officers on standby ready to escort them to the brig."
"You have your phasers and your stasis cuffs?" Jim asked the two Nara officers, and Enterprise men.
"We do," Marchan answered. Giotto nodded. When on duty, he and his security force never went anywhere without their phasers and stasis cuffs. You never knew when you had to disable, disarm, or subdue someone. Security's primary duty was always to protect the Captain first, and after that, to protect the other members of an away mission, so phasers and stasis cuffs were SOP, and carried at all times off the ship.
"Looks like we're ready then. Remember to act normally when the Antares guys show up. Spock and Mayri, you'll be at the door, so be congenial, welcoming, and gracious." Jim looked at Spock's impassive face, and sighed. "Just try, Spock. Mayri, you and Spock will greet them at the door, then Spock will usher them in to the living room. Marchan, Timmons, Giotto, De Soto, Sulu, Bones, and I will already be here in the living room, in two groups talking as they enter, but we will quickly surround them and cover them with our phasers, while the stasis cuffs are put on them.
I'm concerned that the two body guards will be armed, so we'll have to move quickly, take them by surprise. Officer Marchan will read them their Federation rights, and they'll be beamed right to the brig, put in separate cells. Scotty already has my orders and is already on stand by in the transporter room. Mayri, I want you to stay safely away from them, out of the way, in fact just stay in the foyer by the door, as if you are expecting more guests and need to answer the door."
"Yes, Captain."
Spock's communicator pinged. He looked down. "Ah, at last. I have a message from my father, Captain. He has acquired the prospectus. He adds that he had some difficulty in getting a copy, but he prevailed, and he has forwarded it to me."
"Hate to be the one Sarek prevailed upon, bet that was something to see," Bones muttered soto voice to Jim.
Jim shot him a warning glance. "Excellent, let's take a look at it. I'm anxious to read it, see what all the secrecy was about."
"Let me forward it to your devices, Dr. McCoy, Cousin Doris, Captain. I am sure it will make for some interesting reading."
Jim glanced at the wall chronometer. The afternoon was going fast. They didn't have much time before the Antares guests were due to arrive, but they'd have enough time to read the prospectus. The four sat down to read, and there was a deep silence while the three men and Doris carefully perused the contents of the prospectus. After a minute Jim looked up from his padd. "I can see why they didn't want the Nara Governor or Doris to read this," he commented, frowning down at the document.
"Jim," Doris said aghast. "None of this is true. It's all lies! I certainly didn't write this letter, and, I can assure you neither did the Governor." She read more, looked up, bewildered. "This is unconscionable! How could they stoop so low, to such blatant lies and dishonesty. And to think that once the Antares Corporation was a reputable business. What's happened to them? What brought them to this, choosing to participate in all these lies, all this deceit and evil?"
"Greed happened, Doris," Jim said. "Greed, bad management, cash flow problems, and who knows what else."
"And as we have seen several times on our missions, Cousin Doris, the guise of evil is often cloaked in respectability."
"This prospectus is nothin' but a bunch of hooey, Jim," Leonard said angrily. "Nothin' but lies and misdirection through and through."
"Yes, Bones, but finally having all this in black and white will make things much easier for us. They blatantly lied to the subcommittee, intimating the Governor of Nara and Doris agreed with their plans to mine the ryetalyn. Look at the attachments, the two letters which are supposed to be from Doris and the Governor, signed by them, enthusiastically agreeing with Antares that the ryetalyn mining would bring in much needed revenue for Nara's long range colonizing projects. They're assuring the subcommittee that Antares has proved that their mining processes are safe for the Naran delicate ecosystems, that Antares has satisfied Dr. Stemple concerns about the safety protocols that will be used to extract the ryetalyn. Here before us in this prospectus is clear evidence of their guilt."
"Clearly these signatures are forgeries, Captain. Clever, well done forgeries, but forgeries nevertheless," Spock said. "Close perusal would have revealed them as such."
"How in the world did they think they could get away with something like this! It's nothing but lies prettied up for the subcommittee members, and these letters are blatant forgeries. Did they really think no one would ever notice or check?" Doris' face was flushed in fury. "Jim, I don't understand how they could forge these letters and our signatures so well," Doris peered closely at her name and signature. "Mine is almost perfect, and so is the governor's signature. If I didn't know for certain he's never seen the prospectus, I would think this was his signature, and he would think the same about mine and we've seen each other's signatures innumerable times. The governor is going to be so angry when he sees this!"
"There are criminals who are excellent forgers all across the sector, Doris, those who make their living doing things like this, forging art, important documents, letters and signatures. I'm sure Antares hired the best forgers out there. And why would anyone think to question your signature? Or the governor's? They look authentic, and by making sure neither of you received a copy of the prospectus and letters, Antares made certain you wouldn't find out about the forgery… until it was too late, until permission was given and the mines were operational. It was a desperate but calculated risk. And they almost got away with it. Look how long it took for even Ambassador Sarek to get a copy of the prospectus, and he's President of the Federation Council! Antares made sure to cover all their bases by only working in secret with the much smaller mining subcommittee, and by making sure it kept the prospectus out of other Federation Council member's hands, including the President of the Council."
"Yeah. All those machinations they did with the subcommittee, it's amazin' they almost got away with it. It seems like Antares has a lot of clout," Leonard murmured.
"I am certain it is clout that Antares has acquired through lies, subterfuges, and bribery, Dr. McCoy. The Antares Corporation has deep pockets and unfortunately has had many years to perfect their nefarious practices."
"Well that clout comes to an end today, Spock. This prospectus with all its lies and the forged letters are one more nail in their coffin. I think it's more than enough to convict."
"Good, 'bout time if you ask me," Bones said angrily. "They're nothin' but proverbial snakes in the grass."
"You know, Jim, in a way this whole thing was fortuitous," Doris told him, thoughtfully. "If they hadn't attempted to mine the ryetalyn on Nara, and if Sarek and Admiral Boyce hadn't intervened and sent you to help us, Antares would have continued to mine illegally in other places with absolutely no compunction about destroying ecologically vulnerable sites.
"Well, sometimes, good news isn't so very different from bad news, " Bones said.
"Your coming here will have saved us and many other fragile planetary sites," Doris looked at them gratefully. "And for that, all of you have my profound gratitude."
"We're happy we've been able to help, Doris. All this will be over soon, and Mara can return to the peaceful, productive colony it was before Antares got here. Now you better go to your study, make sure the door is closed so there's no chance of them seeing you. It's almost time for the Antares managers to arrive. We'll let you know when you can come back."
"Be careful, all of you. Mayri, you do exactly what the Captain tells you." With an anxious look at them, Doris went to her study to wait.
"Places everyone, try to act casual. Bones, you and Sulu get a drink to hold, cluster together in a couple of groups, as if you were in conversation. The rest of you get a drink too. Mayri, Spock, are you both ready? Remember, Mayri, smile big, greet them cordially, usher them in side, and then stay in the foyer out of the way. Spock, you bring them in to the living room as if you were the host."
Mayri nodded. "Yes, Captain. I'm ready."
"I, too, am prepared, Sir."
The door bell chimed. "Showtime, everyone. Mayri, open the door."