“Paul
Dvorak meet your new Personal Bodyguard John D Fordun.” I tab down
the space jazz. Demarest terminates his holo introduction as the big
guy JD approaches me to do the handshake ritual. He has surprisingly
weak grip, soft hands.
“Nice
doggy, nice doggy…ooops…Ok watch out…”
“His
names Space.”
“You
know Mr. Dvorak…” “Call me Paul.” “…you should’ve
killed that guy.”
“Who?”
“That
guy! The son of a bitch that wasted all those canned pluses.”
“Ah
oh well…”
“I’d
a killed him!”
“How’d
you? You read the reports?” He can read. That’s good.
“Shit.
Twice! What a story! I scooted a route at NA urban for two years and
never saw so much hit in one day!”
“Well…you
know…revolutions…”
“Who
do we kill?”
“What…?”
“Kill.
It’s my job. I enjoy it! Who?”
“Not
yet…um I mean nobody.”
“No
body?”
“No
I mean no!”
“No
body. I can do that! It’s easy in space. Just put em in a suit pop
a hole in it and give em a good shove. Or you can skip the suit…
either way.”
“No
I mean no-one-to-kill-yet.” He seems disappointed. I turn the jazz
back up.
I
don’t pay any more attention to John D till he escorts a guy over
to me in the restaurant. Young fellow, tall and fair, in a sort of
lab techy casual travel hard wired three piece shuttle suit. I text
Demarest to join me by holo call as witness. No intro but I know who
he is. No power handshake gesture from him. He speaks first:
“You’re
the history policeman?”
“Senior
Researcher. You’re the Librarian?”
“That’s
right.” I know his name already: Ed Delaney.
“And
you’re a Para-military Public Librarian First Class.” I didn’t
half try to not sound skeptical.
He
drew himself up taller. “The public has the right to free access to
information.”
“You
do work for the Government.” “Yes.”
“Yet
most of the Public Library Board’s efforts are spent fighting the
Government.”
“The
Government has may segments that aren’t always in sync.” True
enough. Certainly not much I could say to that. “You go everywhere
with him?”
“He
takes me along is more like it. I let him sniff around first. He
detects aliens.” He reaches out to be checked.
“Cute
puppy…whoa!” “Grrr.”
“Sorry,
he bites Librarians. Down Space!”
“You
know why I’ve been sent?”
“Yes.
But so we have it together…Demarest fill us in.” And for graphics
I get suit to project to follow Demarist. “Thanks suit.” Demarest
absentmindedly holographicly attempts to shake hands with Delaney who
hesitatingly attempts to meet his laser light grip and missing it of
course. Awkward moment. He snubbed my handshake!
“Okay.
Hello Mr. Delaney. I’m Bill Demarist Junior Researcher and Liaison
Coordinator. Um…The Green Apples scientific study data is flawed,
ruined by paradox. The outbreak occurred among the samples rented by
Dr Manuelo de Boveray that the genius inventor obtained to boost his
chance at the Asimov Prize. He was trying to build a humanoid robot
that could fool the Welshactor test and win the hundred mil prize.
Well de Boveray disappears mysteriously from Mars. All the subject
people whose sample data was bought by him also have disappeared.”
“Yeah
I know.” He is a Librarian and certainly he does. He tells us why:
“I’ve been sent from the Anti-War Office of the Public Library
Board at the request of the Solsys Tera Popular World Government
Authorities to work with you in your research toward a mission to
Mars to seize data and put right the rebellion and lawlessness in
close coordination with the armed forces in the event of a possible
implementation of the Librarians Special Act of War.”
“Whoohoo!
War! Yeah!” John D is up for war.
“What
are your personal reasons for doing this type of work instead of say,
dusting books in a vault?”
“That
free access to information be available to all who seek it.”
“Good
slogan. Licensed to kill?”
“Only
in self-defense. But the PLB has designated this mission Priority
Level One so we get to shoot first if necessary.”
“Can
you legally break any laws?”
“No
only illegal ones.”
“I
like the double Kevlar blast proof decomp three piece shuttle suit.”
Is John D drooling? “Italian cut.”
“Thanks.”
“So
you have total public library data base access?”
“Yes
same as you or any other citizen or detainee.”
“See
the thing is that with that gigantic mass of information it is so
vast that I get lost trying to ask for what I want to know. Then even
if I figure it out and try again some other time I have to wade
through all the same bullshit again. They change the listing formats
or the prog language used; or the references I use won’t work twice
because my suit takes off elsewhere from the same query. Or the lists
are so long that what I want is at page fifteen thousand. Then as I
surf off away it can’t even find out where it was before.”
“Should
have used a path trac program or saved more access history.” Am I
the only one that hears my suit make a “bop bop” noise at this.
Space gives me a look so he must have heard it too.
“Why
do they change all code around like that and then the conversion
progs don’t work?”
“To
change the codes is best way to keep track of what people already
know.” What? “To change the way everything is stored so no one
can read it but you…” Huh? “…I mean a citizen, is only the
temporary result of technological advancements.” Slippery.
“This
too, my suit has to call up the library to use the interface to get
to the source cores and its always busy! Wait! Wait! Wait! So I just
use the web and nets and get current answers but I can’t dig deep.”
“I
have an unlimited access no late charge remote priority communicator
gold card lami. As Public Librarian First Class on a priority level
one mission involving active evolving current history I can if
necessary call up the military databases.”
“Bragging.
The library military?” I say mockingly.
“No
the Government military.” “For war?” “Up to brigade for
something such as this. The last war was of course started at the
urging of a First Class Librarian.”
“You
mean World War Eight?”
“No
the one after that. Anyway since the passage of the fifty seventh
amendment of universal human rights with the doctrine of freedom of
information as a basic right and the subsequent civil wars Librarians
have become the sole enforcement arm of the Archives Administration.”
“Ancient
history. You’d kill for statistics?”
“If
you wouldn’t give me a copy or tried to use deadly force to keep me
from getting the information.”
“Or
even if there is an implication of deadly force apparently.” I have
studied his dossier.
“I
was cleared of all charges! And the implication of deadly force
warrants appropriate lifesaving counter deadly force.”
“I’m
not a history cop, I’m just a Senior Researcher and all I’ve got
is an empty database and cold subpoenas. I can’t kill anybody or
I’d get fired.” Maybe. I think.
“Information
is power. Having it can be dangerous.” Being close to him is
dangerous. With such fat bandwidth he’s completely shut down my
suits music system. Now I have to load a new play list.
