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  “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.

  Chapter Three

  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 t
ook 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.

  She gave Rimash a tight nod, and he sent in the next petitioner.

  Jill took a deep breath and let it out slowly as a tower of gelatinous goo and its interpreter came in to ask for the oldest contract in the Grimto system involving trade routes.

  She went looking for the contract, but as she worked, she could feel the goo giving her strange looks.

  Searching, she found the first mention of a trade-route contract for one of the worlds. It was a place named Limp. It was the only world under the Grimto system under ancient contract. The rest of the passages were far more recent.

  She displayed the document. “This is the oldest contract in that system. It covers one world only. All other contracts go around this set trade route.”

  The translator nodded. “It is a start. May we have a copy please?”

  Sighing, she printed the copy out and affixed her seal to it. She handed it to the translator, and it and the goo creature were on their way.

  She stopped for tea and some crackers with a protein spread.

  Rimash nodded in approval.

  She wondered if he had to eat and idly flicked through Drai contracts with the Alliance. She didn’t display it, but she blinked at the carte blanche that had been granted to the Drai that found suitable mates from other species. They were only allowed to find an alien to match them if they were already off world.

  She shook off her fascinating course of personal study and got back to work.

  The next woman wanted her bloodlines traced via legal contract. It was a cascade that ended up in the Nyal Imperium with a Drekolian shipwright.

  Jill skipped from marriage to marriage, legal heir declaration to a world that acknowledged their bastards. It was bizarre and very educational.

  “Did you wish for copies of all documents?”

  “Yes, please. How far back did you go?”

  “Eighteen generations. All legal on the worlds they were born on. Your family has moved around a little.”

  Her client smiled. “We have. Shall I get those for you?”

  “Yes please. My guard tenses every time I leave my desk.”

  The client chuckled.

  When the forms were on her desk, Jill did what she would have done on Earth. She read everything before she put her seal on it.

  She needed to make sure that the original in the archives matched what had been printed, so she read everything all over again.

  One by one, she sealed the copies. They were legal and her signature and confirmation identifiers were good in both the Alliance and the Nyal Imperium.

  With her own grandparents’ legal immigrants, she was aware of the importance of having the right documentation on hand when it was necessary. She actually enjoyed handing over the documents to help people prove that they were what they thought they were. She knew that there would be some folks who determined that they were on the wrong side of an inheritance, but if she wasn’t going to tell women like Kilura that they were the ones with the illegitimacy in the family, she could stick to business and simply give them the contract they were looking for.

  Exposing unasked-for secrets wasn’t in her job description.

  The rest of the morning went by without more than a few minutes here or there. She plumbed history, and sometimes, there was nothing to find. The lost contract was a contract that never existed, and she really looked. Hours were spent looking for myth and legend. When Rimash finally called a halt for her to have a proper meal, she was exhausted.

  She got up from her desk and put her hand on his wrist, “So, how did I do?”

  “Excellent. You are offering the ideal blend of attention and empathy, as well as businesslike sternness when you tell the petitioners that you can find nothing.”

  Jill nodded. “I need tea, caf and lunch.”

  He chuckled. “I shall see that you get what you need.”

  They walked out the way that she had come in, and the line down the petitioner’s hallway looked just as long as it had been when she started that morning.

  “They never stop coming.” She sighed.

  “No, they don’t. You have gone through ten this morning, and I believe that approaches a record for the first day.”

  She nodded. Her mind was awake and spiralling to seek more information.

  While Jill’s body was exhausted, her mind wanted to do it again and again.

  Her escort took her to a private dining room where she was seated in a comfortable chair and a menu appeared in front of her.

  “Aren’t you going to sit and eat?” She looked up at Rimash.

  “I do not need to eat more than once a day. I eat in my quarters after you are asleep.”

  He took up a stance on her left side and watched the room with his wings flared to hide her from anyone coming through the door.

  With him looming over her, it was hard to concentrate, but she managed to order three times the amount of food she could eat on a normal day. To her shock, she consumed it all and ordered some desserts.

  There was a smirk on Rimash’s face as he helped her to her feet. “That was impressive.”

  “I do not know what came over me.”

  “Your body is adjusting to the strange processing of the data connection. You are burning more calories than you are used to. It will settle soon.” He chuckled. “Or you will eat the entirety of the food in the Archive. It is up to you.”

  She settled her hand on his wrist, and he nodded in silent satisfaction.

  “Are you ready to return to your office?”

  Jill nodded. “I am. Folks to talk to, contracts to locate.”

  “Excellent.” He led the way back to her office and her new occupation.

  After five more hours of seeking out obscure copies of ancient treaties, birth contracts and writs of peace, she was shaking.

  Captain Rimash signalled the guard at the door and came over to her desk. “Enough for today. You are exhausting yourself.”

  She looked at him, and his body blurred before it solidified again. “I think you are right.”

  Jill pressed her hands on her desk and pushed upright. She swayed, and Rimash moved to support her.

  When the world became fixed again, she was leaning against his armo
ur and his hands were smoothing over her back. He was humming low in his throat, and the sound relaxed her.

  “I should have been more careful with you.” He sighed and continued stroking her back.

  “I am fine. Just a little dizzy.”

  “You need to rest. Hold on.”

  She gasped as he swung her up and carried her through the halls. She was tired enough that she didn’t make a fuss, and the way Rimash moved, he wasn’t bothered by her weight.

  He took her back to her quarters, tucked her into bed and removed her jewellery. She simply sat, stunned from the inside out while he got her a bowl of soup and some rolls.

  “Eat and rest. I will watch over you and check your vitals before you sleep. This is the most taxing day for you, and you have come through it wonderfully well.”

  In full armour, he perched at the end of her bed with his wings draping back.

  The image he made as seven feet of armoured warrior perched like a huge bird at the end of her bed was distracting to say the least. Eating with him staring at her was definitely tricky. When she finished, he took the tray away and asked, “Do you need to use the lav?”

  She thought about it and nodded. “Probably. I can change into a sleep gown as well.”

  He nodded and went to her wardrobe, lifting out a gown and handing it to her. She struggled out of bed and to her feet, stumbling with his help into the lav.

  Once she was in, she pushed him out. There were things she didn’t need a guard for.

  When she was dressed and ready for rest, she returned to the bedroom and wobbled back to bed.

  “Can you tell me what is going on?”

  He resumed his perch. “Your brain is creating new pathways and that causes some issues with your motor function. With food, rest and time, the symptoms will dissipate.”

  “Are you going to watch me all night?”

  “I need to remain close in case you have a seizure.”

  She scooted down in bed and pulled a pillow under her cheek. “That’s encouraging. Don’t forget to have dinner.”

  His chuckle was the last thing she heard before she slept.