Chapter 44
Elena settled herself in her chair while the librarian made himself comfortable across from her.
“I’m afraid I don’t have anything but water to offer you,” Elena said. “I wasn’t planning to be at the docking facility long so I didn’t stock up.” The man waved off her concern.
“Not a problem my dear. I understand you weren’t expecting any visitors and personally I would like to keep this visit between us, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course,” Elena answered. They sat in silence for a few seconds as the old man gathered his thoughts. Elena sat patiently. He seemed to shake himself and he smiled.
“I did not introduce myself did I?”
“No sir, you didn’t,” she said with a smile.
“My apologies one of the perils of age is that you begin believing you have met everyone already and don’t need to introduce yourself any more. I am Evan Greggs.”
“Mr. Greggs, how may I help you this evening?” The old man smiled and tapped the embroidered emblem on his shirt.
“As you may have deduced, I am with the Librarians.” Elena nodded politely. “We couldn’t help but notice the,” he paused as sucked on his teeth for a second as if trying to find the proper term. Finally he came up with something he liked. “theme shall we say, of your latest research. Quite a departure from your usual literary peruses.”
Elena was pretty sure they could have easily helped noticing what books she checked out and was not that comfortable with others making lists. Just how many tales of piracy had she checked out over the years? Elena also had the feeling that her personal preferences wouldn’t matter much and mentioning privacy would be pointless. Since discretion seemed the safer course, Elena kept her mouth shut. He paused as if waiting for a response. Not receiving one seemed to please him.
“As you are well aware,” he continued, “The library here at the Docking Facility is merely an electronic copy of Most of our materials. There are items we have not yet gotten around to digitizing.” Elena thought of the giant library ships, circling the galaxies like sharks, never stopping, always gathering information and guarded not only by archivists but by fighters that made her pirate tales seem tame. After all information was power and needed to be safeguarded. She really didn’t like to think about the ships that much. It was almost like wondering why rain was wet.
“I am aware of the library ships,” Elena said. Evan sighed and rubbed his temple.
“The fact is we have some things that will never be able to be digitized.” He paused and shook this thought away as if it were part of an old conversation. “A preliminary scan of the data you have accessed leads us to believe that you are researching more than merely a new trade route,” Elena thought about the treatise dealing with the laws regulating unoccupied planets currently taking up space on her reader. Inwardly she sighed knowing she would have to tread carefully. She once again mentally cursed the need for politics.
“As I am not ready to speak with the Council yet, I would prefer the librarians keep that knowledge quiet for the moment.” Elena said politely.
“Of course,” Evan replied with a slight nod. “After all, this conversation did not actually happen and while we notice certain trends in reader’s habits, we do so only so that we may better assist our patrons, not so that we can gossip with interested council members.” Elena lifted an eyebrow at the comment, silently wondering whether it was Peter of Riko who tried to access that information. Since he had used the plural form, Elena had the suspicion both of them had tried. She couldn’t say she was really surprised.
“I am glad to know that the librarians do not seek to feed the gossip mill.” It was as close to a statement of thanks as she could get. He acknowledged it with a slight incline of his head.
“We do our best.” He clicked his tongue against the back of his front teeth. “Can we work with the understanding that your as of yet undisclosed project deals in some way with an unoccupied planet?
“We can work with that understanding,” Elena said cautiously.
“Good,” he paused and gave Elena a stern look. “I take it you do not seek to feed the gossip mills either?”
“I do my best to avoid it,” she assured him. She was beginning to be somewhat intrigued. “But since this conversation never happened, I can’t see that I would have anything to gossip about, even were I so inclined.” He smiled.
“As you know other than Earth, humans have never managed to hold a planet. Finding an unoccupied one is quite rare in any case which is why few races ever hold more than their home planet. Of course many races are not handicapped in that they must hide their activities from the rest of their planets. For some time now we have been searching for a place to use as a home port. A permanent storage facility so that the accumulated knowledge we have gathered through the centuries could be kept safe while we continue our work.”
“I see,” Elena replied thoughtfully, the wheels in her head spinning. “You would want someplace secure and located in protective space.” The thought of the giant floating archives finally coming to rest was nearly unfathomable. She was not even sure if there was a channel large enough to admit their bulk.
“Yes, this is not something we speak of openly. I’m sure you understand why, but it has been an ambition of ours for quite some time.” Elena nodded her understanding. The librarians were the people you went to for help. They did not seek help. To do so would be to put them in another’s power and jeopardize the nearly complete autonomy under which they existed. She wondered if they had chosen to come to her because she was not a threat or because they thought she was the best chance they had of reaching their goal. She decided not to ask.
“Are there any other requirements you might have that I should be concerned with?” She asked instead. In response he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a memory stick.
“Your reader?” he asked. She retrieved the reader and handed it to him. He transferred whatever file he carried into the reader. “Should you find anything suitable we would be happy to negotiate. Privately of course. My contact information is in the file as it has been decided I am the one you will deal with on this issue.” He stood up and tugged his shirt straight. Elena stood as well and escorted him to the door. He seemed eager to be on his way now that their meeting was concluded. After the door closed behind him Elena realized his proposal had the potential to solve a very difficult problem.
One of the things she knew was that the council always took its cut. Even if Elena started an alliance with Riko, the council would still demand a price. Elena ran a hand through her hair and toed off her shoes, leaving them by the door. She would have to pay the council for the use of the new channel and rights to the planet. With a little effort she might be able to translate her payment into providing harbor for the librarians instead of a percentage of the profits. This change might also keep Riko happy. She would get some prestige out of working with the Librarians and there would be less cut out of whatever profits were realized. Elena smiled.
“Lets just hope Mateo found something useful.”
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