Empire's Legacy

Chapter 27: Queries

A smile touched the corners of Amy's mouth. "I don't think you'll do so, Dad," she said. "Oddly enough, you've never done anything but protect me and Cam, despite your loyalty to the Commission. The eyes in this room aren't active. You deactivated them when you first came in. Although I have no doubt you carry your own personal eye somewhere on you, one that no one knows about but you, for insurance purposes."

"You continue to surprise me."

"God forbid." She sighed. "Back to the point at hand. I'm looking for anyone who would have access to information not readily available from courses taught at the University."

"That would have been a useful initial qualifier."

She rolled her eyes. "When I was working on my dissertation, I had to get special permission to access the database records and archives, which were flagged as restricted as well as located in a high-security compound; my ident was double-logged alongside the Guardsman responsible for swiping me in and out every day. And to be honest, I'm not sure I would have been granted permission if I weren't your daughter." She looked piqued at the idea. "Anyway. There were dozens of files missing, and dozens more with information redacted—on the part of the Commission or that of the Empire, I don't know. The computer systems are ancient but heavily protected; hacking in is hard." She paused, meeting her father's quirked eyebrow with a defiant gaze. "Quite aside from Dr. Jameson's renowned stinginess when it comes to sharing information, there's a reason I'm the only other expert on the Empire; most people can't be arsed going through the hassle of dealing with the extra security to research it."

"Out of curiosity," Brenner said mildly, "did that happen to be a confession to hacking into secure government systems?"

Amy smiled slightly. "Of course not."

"Of course not."

"Even if I had a habit of hacking into secure government systems—which, as I'm sure you know, is certainly something I'd never do—I think we can agree that you taught me better than to admit it."

"Considering you've already made known to me a number of incendiary thoughts, I think that might be the least of your worries." He tapped his fingers absently against his thigh. "Seeing as you seem to have better knowledge of this particular area, may I inquire as to why you bothered to ask me for information at all? Seeing as my own search has produced nothing of import."

"I only know who signed off on my permission forms, at University and then later on," she said, smoothing invisible wrinkles from her shirt. "That means I know specific individuals stationed at the archives with access, none of whom ever evinced any particular interest in what I was doing. Select students with special permission might have access to the same information I do, but I keep track of the people researching in my field, and aside from Jameson, who is getting on for 90, is housebound, and lives on one of the outliers—which means he's likely dead at this point—and Pele Jacobs, who is 19 and just entering his second year at the University, there aren't any other individuals interested in the Empire to such a degree that they can be bothered dealing with the hassles of research and security." The corner of her mouth twisted. "Also, any student or academic seeking access to the archives would have left a trail, and I would have noticed."

"I see you've been keeping close tabs on the archives," Brenner observed. "Clearly, someone should have been keeping closer tabs on you."

Ignoring him, Amy continued, "If it's not an academic, that means it's someone else, and I doubt it's a regular citizen—last I checked, standard curricula in elementary and secondary schools didn't include sections on the Empire." She looked up at him. "I suspect it's either someone in the government or an upper-level member of the military, although why either would have suddenly come down with a case of Empire-era research fever is beyond me. Perhaps you could tell me what is in all those missing and redacted files?"