Oppose (2 page)

Walking through the ship was practice for her first steps into the archive. She kept her pace steady, nodded politely to the crewmen who paused to greet her and sailed right past them on her way to the bay where the escort awaited.

She had to wait for the shuttle to connect with the ship and held perfectly still while she waited for the escort to pick her up from the waiting room.

She was not allowed to leave any secured vessel without escort. The work they had done on her was just that valuable.

The high-security zone was where she waited and watched for the incoming escort. The heavily armoured creature striding down the walkway below her had to be her escort, but she didn’t think that being an archive was dangerous enough to warrant a Drai in battle dress.

Sure enough, he came up to the secure room and opened the door with the access code. He looked her over and gave her a short bow, flaring his wings slightly to close the doorway.

“Archive Ahamad?”

She smiled and nodded. “I am.”

“My name is Captain Rimash. I am your escort. Please, come with me.”

She nodded. “Lead the way.”

He shook his head. “Contact is required. You had best get used to it. Physical contact between archive and escort is demanded so that we can measure your vitals in case you come under attack.”

He held his hand out, and when she extended her own, he wrapped her hand around the back of his wrist. “That leaves my hands free for doors and codes.”

His skin was smooth and warm, living suede. She felt ridiculously tiny and frivolous next to him as they walked down to the pathway he had just used to get to her.

“You work for the Great Archive?”

He inclined his head. “I do. It has been my honour to serve for the last few centuries.”

She summoned her information on the Drai and nodded slowly. “Do you enjoy it?”

He shrugged and gave a small smile. “I like to read.”

It seemed like a good idea to be near all the documents available in history if you enjoyed reading.

When they got to the shuttle, he walked her to the seat she was assigned, he checked the vehicle to make sure that no one had encroached while he was gone, and then, he settled in the very specifically designed seat and gained their release from the Alliance transport that had brought her and finished her transformation.

They were released from the ship and floated free before he used the ship’s engines to move them toward the huge living world, covered with and hollowed out by history and the written word.

Jill was getting excited. This was what she had dreamed of since the recruiter first mentioned it. She wanted to read everything she could, anytime her schedule would allow. Unlimited knowledge had been her draw. It had been the final thing that allowed her parents to tell her they supported her. She had other siblings, the family line was set on both sides of the gender line, but knowing that no child she bore could ever set foot back on home soil had made her flinch a little. Her leaving the Earth had cut her ties with her family. There was nothing to go back to. Instead, she opted to focus on the knowledge.

“How long have you been away from your home?” Rimash asked her casually.

“A few weeks, a few months, I am not really sure. The medical alterations had me in and out of a tank while they worked on me.” She folded her hands in her lap.

“Was it painful?”

“Not particularly. Just uncomfortable, like the first day in new clothing. Everything looks fine but nothing feels right. When the data started streaming, I am pretty sure that I fainted.”

He nodded. “Right. Well, if you need to power your connection, my suit has sensors and a passive charge in it that the wires in your hands can access. Any contact with it and you will begin to power up your battery.”

She wrinkled her nose. “So, you have met with a number of archives then?”

He chuckled. “Half a dozen or so. Those with your implant type are on the rare side, but I have acted as a bodyguard for one of them. Contact is necessary to your connection with the Great Archive. My armour is at your disposal.”

The thought of touching a stranger at random intervals went against everything she had been raised with.

“Thank you. I am sure that the charger in my quarters will be fine.”

He glanced at her. “I was referring to those assignments when we are not at the Great Archive.”

She blinked. “Um, what?”

“A Contract Archive goes where they are needed for legal matters. I will travel with you and act as your pilot and your charging station.” He smiled slightly.

“They didn’t tell me I would travel.”

“When it comes to border disputes in space, an actual archive with access to the original documents is definitely called for. It also stands for high families here and in the Imperium requiring confirmation of marriage contracts. A virtual presence is not acceptable.”

She licked her lips and stared out at the world that was swelling and widening in the view screen. “I wonder what else they forgot to mention.”

“Probably a thousand things that will make you uncomfortable.”

Jill chuckled. “Well, if we are working together, call me Jill unless protocol dictates it is inappropriate.”

He nodded. “I will, when protocol dictates that it is appropriate.”

She had to settle for that. The screens lit up as the shuttle passed along entry codes and Rimash used his own in the mix. They were entering a high-security area and only those with clearance could make it into the Archive itself.

Apparently, she had the clearance.

Her rooms were definitely suitable for an extended stay. They were lavish, filled with terminals and had delivery systems for clothing built into the wall. She could have whatever she needed with the flick of her finger. Rimash showed her his quarters and the button to summon him if she needed assistance for any purpose. When she was satisfied that she could do whatever she needed to for the rest of the day, she dismissed him. A night learning her own territory was right up her alley.

Rimash took her to her offices first thing the following morning.

“While technically an archivist, you are also the Contract Annex. As they tested the capability of your mind, they found that you had enough capacity to be the Annex. Not one area, not two, but all areas of filed contracts.”

She cleared her throat. “Can’t all the archivists do that?”

He smiled and glanced down at her. “No.”

Her hand was on the back of his wrist, and he took her through the security scans with the ease of long practice.

“So, were your other archivists male or female?”

“The cyborg archivist was a male. The others were trained or talented females.”

Talent. Jill had heard that word a lot at the Lunar Base. She didn’t have a talent for anything but keeping her mind open and indexing. Her parents were both accountants, so it was ingrained in her genes.

A line had formed in a hallway, through three glass doors.

“What is that for?” Jill had a feeling she knew the answer.

“They are waiting for you. Some have been here for weeks, hoping to get clarification on contracts signed by ancestors.”

She was nervous, and Rimash picked up on it.

“Do not worry. This is why I am here. The Archive guards will let them through one at a time, and you will deal with as many as you can. Your visual link is available as well as your consulting office. This way.” He led her through high-security doors guarded on either side by two aliens who had the skin texture of durian fruit.

She had to press her palm to a scanner and lean in for an ocular scan. When the light had caressed her eye, she stood, and Captain Rimash led her into the Contract Archive.

Her eyes widened at the tablets, scrolls, data pads and com terminals that filled the space. It smelled old. Not mouldy, but as if the spices from a thousand worlds had been brought through the space.

It was an aircraft hangar worth of documents, and those were not the ones in digital format.

“The documents not physically accessible are in storage and can be summoned with a few hours’ notice.”

“Oh. Good. I was worried about that.” She quirked her lips.

“Have you linked up with the archive yet?” he murmured it low as they passed other archivists.

“Yes. I did it for a few minutes last night. Today, I open the gates and hold on tight.”

“I wish you luck. Your chair will feed me information on your physical state. If you are in distress, I will be at your side in an instant.”

He ushered her into a cavernous office lined with display screens and a desk-mounted projector that would manifest the scanned copies of any contracts that Jill could locate.

Her palms got sweaty, and Captain Rimash made a small soothing sound. “You will be fine. Just let the petitioners ask the questions, and you will find the original contract. I am sure of it.”

“Right. I just thought I would have an orientation or something.”

“It is all in your mind. Let the programming guide you.”

He settled her in her seat, showed her where she could access the hidden snack and beverage dispenser, as well as the equivalent of wet wipes. The lav was hidden behind a panel, but she would have to wait until she was done with the petitioner she was working on or it would cause a security issue.

“Okay, I think I can manage this.”

“Good. I will take my post and signal the guards to let in the first petitioner. Remember that folks can record their sessions with you, but we put out a signal that is a waving variant. If they attempt an edit, we will be able to compare it to the master recording of your session.”

She breathed in and out slowly. “Right. I am ready. Let them in.”

He nodded and flicked his wings, moving until he was at the doorway of her office, and when he was settled, he raised his hand. It was time to get to work.

The first couple that came in were Azon. They walked up to her desk, and when she gestured for them to take a seat, they sat.

The woman held her mate’s hand tightly, and she cleared her throat. “Thank you for seeing us, Archive.”

“You are most welcome. What contract can I find for you today?”

The young male cleared his throat. “The wedding contract of my grandfather five times removed. Kilura’s family is conservative, and they consider me a bastard because one of my relations was born outside of the traditional Azon mating. My family has always maintained that the marriage ceremony took place before the pregnancy, but no one has ever been able to lay hands on the contract.”

Jill sat up. “The names and approximate year that the mating took place, please.”

“Arbri vi Nakoth and Silorian ak Rema the year nine thousand and twenty-four, on Azon.”

Jill took a deep breath, opened her mind, selected the Azon Marriage Contract Archive and she went looking.

She kept her palms on the display interface, and she smiled, “Don’t look if you get motion sick.”

The flicking went faster and faster as she sought through an entire planet’s population for that year of their calendar, and then, she went forward and back.

The chronometer on her desk told her that she had been rifling through history for twenty minutes when she finally found what they were looking for.

“I have it.”

The couple gasped and held tightly to each other. She flicked through family bloodlines and found his name. “Abron vi Diamik, I have the mating contracts for all of your ancestors, including the ones that you have requested.”

Kilura sighed and relaxed. “That is wonderful. Now my family will accept our union.”

Jill nodded.

The copies were delivered to one of the dispensers on the wall.

She smiled and rose to get them. When she glanced at Captain Rimash, he was tense and watching her, but she made it back to her desk without incident.

Once she had verified all the contracts, she set her seal and handed the documents over to the Azon couple.

“Here you are. Your entire lineage in contracts. The problem arose when someone misspelled your fourth great grandfather’s name on one of the documents. He signed his name and imprinted with his blood. It is definitely his.”

They beamed, stood, bowed and left with an armload of documents heavy with the formal seals that she had affixed with her credentials and the ribbon of the Great Archive.

She paused and took a quick swig of water before she nodded at Rimash. He nodded and the next petitioner came in.

Umbreial Jiolona Mefin Liokan was an elf of Admaryn descent who wanted to challenge the contract and binding decision to remove the possession of his ancestor’s home world from his grasp.

Jill smiled and went searching for the contract he sought. When she had found it, she put it on display. “Here is the contract and the willing surrender or their world for the genocide that they wished to commit on a growing species.”

He looked at the document she was displaying. “There must be a mistake. My father said they would never have given up their world.”

She enlarged the portion of the document outlining the information on what his ancestors had attempted to do to preserve the sanctity of their species.

He swallowed. “I see.”

“I can create a new copy for you if you would like to take it to legal representation.”

“Please. I would like to study it before I take any action.”

She smiled and set the machines whirring to craft the enormous document that had saved her people. “A very wise course of action. Your ancestors blended with another species, correct?”

He nodded. “They did.”

“That was the crux of this issue. They didn’t want their blood contaminated with that of a lesser race. That same lesser race is now exhibiting powerful talents in five percent of their population. The past is a tool to learn from.”

He smiled, and she went to get the document. A few seals and signatures later and he was on his way.

She slipped into her lav and took the pressure off her bladder. She washed her hands, checked her headpiece in the mirror and returned to her desk.