Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Pursuit by Ryan Krauter

civilian clothes;
local garments that helped them blend in well enough, and various mutual
treaties allowed them to carry their SSKs concealed in their jackets.    Though
the indigenous people were humanoid like the Confed crewmembers, they were much
taller and had two elbow joints in their arms.  Enough humanoids from other
planets lived or visited Reshing that the Confeds didn't completely jump out of
a crowd, but they weren't going to pass for locals, either.
    "Alright," Loren said, taking
control of the situation as they strolled down a walkway that was only lightly
populated with other pedestrians.  He'd been given a lot of material by the
admiral, and not all of it was at a clearance level that Cory and Merritt were
allowed to see, so he had to brief them personally on some matters.  "The
first stop on Admiral Bak's scavenger hunt from Hell is the library downtown. 
We're looking for old records, materials that were intentionally put on paper
or transparent parchment."
    "Why would anyone do that?"
asked Merritt.
    "Because," Loren continued,
"supposedly during the last Priman war, everyone became so distrusting of
their technology that extremely sensitive documents were transcribed by hand so
no data system would contain them and thus lead to a possible breach.  All that
old stuff was just a novelty for hundreds of years, and was supposedly lost in
several different reorganizations of the place.  But the fact was that this
planet, and most likely this library, was probably one of the main repositories
of information about the final days of the conflict.  So the admiral figures
even if we don't find anything at first- and let's face it, people have
probably been here before us- if we poke around long enough we might get
somebody's attention."
    "So, we're hoping people take an interest in us?" Cory asked slowly,
looking not entirely thrilled by the prospect.
    "Yes, yes we are," replied
Loren with a smile.
     
     
    The library was a study in contrasts. 
The new, modern section which the three entered was all polished stone and
reflective glass, modern and trendy, with lots of wide open spaces and natural
light.  After wandering around for a while, they found the older sections
buried far inside the complex, no longer a centerpiece as attention was focused
on the modern portions, with their top-of-the-line holographic librarian
interfaces and workstations.
    The older portions of the building were
much more ornate and decorative, with heavy, dark woods and intricate
stonework.  It represented the design style of the times, a nostalgia movement
that had seen the resurgence of deep craftsmanship and the use of traditional
materials.  They walked past rows of old fashioned books, large tables with
warm light emanating from lamps on their surfaces.  Loren counted only two
other people they'd seen since they'd left the newer part of the building,
which suited him just fine.
    Eventually they entered a large and open
space.  It was three stories tall, with balconies surrounding the open area on
each of the upper two floors.  More bookshelves, data pad storage and reading
tables were scattered amongst the upper levels.  An immense skylight took up
most of the ceiling, the semi-opaque windows yellowed with age.  It let in a
warm, comforting light that immediately put Loren at ease.  This was the kind
of place he could just sit down and relax and simply forget that there was a
war raging across the galaxy. 
    "So what do we do," prompted
Cory, "just start picking books and data pads off shelves?"
    "I wouldn't advise that,"
called a voice from among the bookcases.  They heard footsteps after that, and
soon afterwards a trim human male somewhere late in middle age stepped
energetically out into the large open space where Loren and the others were
standing.  If ever Loren had seen someone live up to the stereotype of library
curator, this man fit the bill.  He wore a close-trimmed beard, dark slacks
with a white long