Stardate: 2853.0304. San Francisco, Eastern PacRim Zone.

The Ferengi steward, Quantum, led the way. They passed under a glass dome, through which the Golden Gate Bridge towered high above Star Fleet headquarters.

Quantum led them to a private dining room at the far end of the Officer's Cub, a simple yet elegant chamber that commanded another glorious view: across the bay, the Marin Headlands gave way to spectacular cliffs which towered 300 meters above the crashing surf.

"Good to see you, Jim." Admiral Parker greeted Kirk with a firm handshake as the group entered the room.

"This has always been my favorite vista, Admiral," Kirk remarked, taking in the spectacular view with a nostalgic look. "The bridge seems so much taller from here."

Admiral Parker replied in a serious tone. "That's the problem, Jim. It is. We're eight meters lower today than yesterday. Two days from now we'll be down to sea level. After that... well, let's just say that the view from the ocean floor won't be quite the same. But I understand that your Yeoman here is onto something."

"Yes, Admiral," Kirk said, "It seems no coincidence that dilithium prices have been rising while Star Fleet headquarters is sinking."

Admiral Parkera listened attentively as Yeoman Fool told him about the seemingly inexplicable line item in Evil Empire's income statement for "sales" and the incongruous expenses for "mining exploration." Kirk then described the unauthorized dilithium cargo discovered by the Klingons.

"And then just yesterday we discovered that in last quarter's 10-Q management listed 'Discount Dilithium Delivery' as one of their major customers," cooed Fool triumphantly. "Something has been going on at Evil Empire which has nothing to do with renting office space.

"And there's something else. 'Interest expense' on the EE income statement almost doubled this quarter as compared to the same quarter last year. While it's not unusual for a real estate company to borrow money, the huge increase got my attention. And now I think I know what they did with that borrowed money."

How did Yeoman Fool figure out that Evil Empire had borrowed money, and how did she figure out what they did with it?

1) Torturing Ferengi spies is child's play for Star Fleet Academy graduates.

2) She found the information by looking on the lines on the EE balance sheet marked "long-term debt" and "assets".

3) There were pictures in the annual report of the new parking lot at EE headquarters. It showed far too many hyper-dimension sports vehicles.

4) There is no way to tell what the money was used for.

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