Right on schedule, the modified Replicator arrived in the coffee shop, delivered by one of their Android crew members, and escorted by a member of the Resort Staff.
"Commander, the unit has been created as instructed, and modified for the local power frequencies and outlets." The android informed them politely.
"Thank you very much, you can return to the ship if there are no other outside tasks on your list." Nico replied, and handily lifted the large crate off the machine, shocking the surrounding diners.
They fell silent as she carried the large metal machine over her head to get past the counter and then into the back room, where she began reorganizing to make space for the new addition.
"Should we send someone to help her?" Marcus asked hesitantly as he heard the sound of Nico whistling and metal furniture banging in the back room.
"Give it a minute. We don't want them to get injured or traumatized. She will have the room reorganized to her liking soon, and then you can change it back after she leaves if it's not up to your requirements." Max chuckled as Nico considered if it would be better to modify the deep fryer to better fit in the spot she wanted it.
With a sudden sense of urgency, Max sensed that a large group was approaching the coffee shop, looking for him and Nico. It seemed that the police suspected them of something, but these officers didn't know what, only that they were ordered to detain them for questioning.
The concern in Max's mind was that someone knew about his abilities, and they had done that deliberately to avoid having his mind reading pick up on the approaching officers until they were too close to be avoided.
"It seems that we will have guests in just a moment. A police brigade." Max whispered to Marco.
He nodded his head toward the back room, sending Nala and his niece back to meet with Nico while Max arranged the transfer and import fees documents in between them. Terminus Trading Company had a partial tax exemption as the patent holder for most import fees, but the paperwork still needed to be signed to make it official, and for the accountants to ensure the proper amounts were transferred.
[Nico, have you fixed the camera footage?] Max asked as the officers got closer.
[They have us on camera from when we left the basement of the bordello and came to the coffee shop. They have nothing before that, as I already cleared our presence from the earlier scenes. I think they're going on a hunch, not hard footage. Do you know what they suspect us of?] She replied.
[I'm guessing smuggling. But they won't have gotten that on camera anyhow. They also haven't found the Replicators that we dropped off, I am tracking the thoughts of the ones looking after the shipment, and nobody has been caught watching them.] Max informed her.
[Alright, give me a second, and I'll make some new scenes for us leaving the ship with Nala. I will make it look like we left straight to the entry from the Black Market, and went into that business, then I will leave the actual footage from there on, since they likely have a hard copy by now.]
That was sure to cause its own misunderstandings, but Max could handle that on his own if they asked about the situation.
Nico came back out after installing the replicator, looking like herself again, and took a seat between Max and Marcus at the low table they had chosen.
"Thirty seconds. We should get this paperwork signed before they arrive, so they can't accuse us of trying to dodge responsibility." Max instructed the coffee shop owner with a nod to the stack of papers between them.
As soon as his signature was on the page, Nico made a digital copy and filed it along with their Alliance customs account number with the planetary officials, making the deal official and legitimate, paid in full.
The door burst open, and a squad of ten police officers in the same riot gear that the ones invading the Black Market had been wearing rushed to cover the room, frightening all the customers, and surrounding the table where Max was sitting.
"Commander Keres Max, you are hereby being detained as an accessory to the mass murder of government forces within the zone known as the Black Market." The leader of the unit informed them.
"I'm afraid that I don't know where that is, and I have been otherwise occupied this morning, I haven't had an opportunity to kill anyone today. Thank you for your concern, but you can go now." Max replied.
A few of the guests snickered at his irreverent treatment of the police, then quickly went silent when the other officers glared at them.
"Sir, we will have to ask you to come with us." The officer demanded.
"First, I require the identity of the person or persons who sent you to execute this arrest warrant. Publicly slandering a foreign Emissary is a serious crime, and I have the right to clear my name." Max demanded.
That caught the attention of everyone in the shop, and murmuring about how someone had tried to bite off more than they could chew when they went after an Emissary circulated.
Much to the officers' annoyance, someone outside had heard the proclamation, and they were gathering a crowd to watch as the local police tried to take down a foreign emissary in a coffee shop.
That was not how things were done. If you could openly go after foreign politicians in the street, the system would collapse. Nobody would feel safe enough to come here without armed guards, much less for a relaxing vacation, if they could just have the police turned on them without evidence.
"Sir, we have evidence." The officer continued, certain that he was correct.
"Then please, display it for the crowd." Max insisted.
The man brought out a holographic display, and an officer at the door did the same, while Nico smirked.
The footage showed them leaving the platform with Nala, and then there was nothing for over an hour, before they were spotted again coming out of a brothel.
The crowd in the street burst into laughter at the fake normal act that the group had put on as they entered the recorded areas of the street. Without context, it looked like they had seen a man and two women laughing as they left the resort, then the same man happily swaggering with three women out of a brothel over an hour later.
"OY! I ain't so sure that sort of beating it up is a crime!" Someone in the street shouted.
The officer glared out the open doorway for an instant, then turned back to Max.
Max laughed as he gestured to the footage, which now showed them entering the coffee shop.
"That's your evidence to arrest me for a murder? Oh, I've got to hear more. Tell me, do we have bodies from the brothel? Humans are known for their impressive stamina, but an hour surely shouldn't be long enough to be fatal, even if you had planted a government official in there.
No, you said it was a mass murder, right? Now I am really looking forward to the footage. I think that it would sell very well to raise money for the victim's family." Max announced, loud enough that the crowd outside could hear him.
