Professor Crowley stood in front of the inner door when Theo was finally waved through, his posture one of alertness.  She'd come to notice how often he feigned a tiredness he did not own, but this was not one of those times, despite the fact that they'd been many hours, and on many floors, getting this far and her feet hurt.
    Her toe hurt anyway. But that was her fault for having gotten frustrated at the last door they'd come to that had been the wrong door; you'd think a world so well regulated as this would have some idea of where things actually were.
    This buidling had so many doors, and all of them thick metal slabs with more bolts and connections than the spaceship's  emergency doors. Not only that, but you never just walked right up to a door you needed to get to – there was always an anteroom that had little of the feel of a reception area and a lot of the feel of an airlock.
    They'd found the room when Theo had pointed out the matching symbols – the door in the larger hall being otherwise unmarked.  Crowley's hand on the push plate had revealed ... this room, the dozen stern-looking chairs and small podium. and this inner door.
    “This door is the right door,” he intoned “but we many not enter. The sign here tells us that the keepers are out to lunch!”
    Of all things, Theo giggled.   This was just too much! She could feel her ears redden a little but it didn't seem as if it matter, what with everyone else sighing, slumping, or waving hands about in frustration.
    The so-called escort – he felt more like a snappily dressed Simple to Theo, especially with the way he had attached himself to her every step – harrumphed at about the same time Crowley spoke again:
    “It is always good to feel honored.” He nodded carefully to the escort and then to Theo, and continued on, as if lecturing to her.  She'd felt annoyed early in their stay, but had come to realize that the entire delegation was acting as if she was here as a student set for specialized instruction, rather than at the whim of her mother.
      “It seems the papers and and archives of our colleague are treated with proper respect, Theo, wouldn't you say?  Would you laugh if the Waitley papers were to be preserved in Delgado's Special Collections room and maintained and studied by trained archivists?  Here there is a dedicated staff, a staff of experts. Experts who are off to lunch together.  It seems just and reasonable to me, after all our efforts.”
    Crowley faced the escort and raised his palms in query.
    “We are in the Interior Archive Room of the House of Planetary Treasures, are we not? I take it we may wait for the return...”
    From the exterior hall came a short, quick bustle of sound and then footsteps.
    Theo whirled in time to see their escort shrank against the wall in the face of the rapidly moving men; one of them moved pilot-like toward her with a step straight out of menfria't and she felt her feet center, her body relax into stance...
    “All freeze!”
    Her toes pointing forward, toward the closest...    
    “You, pilot, stand as you are!”
    Everything sped up and stopped at the same time.    
    Theo saw the men with blue shields on their arms and blue truncheons in their hands; accidentally she stood between them and the rest of her group, and they all faced her at once.
    She stood firm, in form. They'd not moved beyond the natural reach line and her dance was for one other dancer at best, not ...
    “Please relax, pilot,”  said the man in careful, even voice.  “Stand at ease and we will do the same.”
    The man with blue shields on both arms spoke directly to Theo and the reaction of menfriat began to give way to something like illness. How...
    She stood straighter then, which is what they wanted, and then caught motion out of the side of her eye, motion she knew was Kamele.  Without thinking she thrust her arm out to hold her mother behind her as might a Safety with a crowd of youngsters surging toward a slideway.
    “Yes. Freeze. Thank you pilot.”
    Again, the man looked directly at her, and Theo felt measured, and ... her stomach was going so tight she thought she might get sick!
    There was silence, other than the sound of breathing and some distant buzz...
    “Your presence here is a Security Breach. You are all under investigation... including you!”
    The glance now was not to Theo, but to their escort.
    “Surely you knew better then to permit unauthorized personnel to open a door on their own!”
    “I, I had instructions! I didn't understand that he'd use the plate.  It should not have opened to his hand!”
    Behind her, Theo felt her mother's presence. Hafley was muttering, which was probably not a good idea, and Crowley...
    “Sir, I beseech you. This is an unseemly way to deal with scholars, on world with invitation of scholars...”
    The large man waved a languid hand at Crowley.
    “Yes, yes. Invited at your own request, if I recall our information correctly.  Really, all too interesting a coincidence with this archive room now in a second security situation within five days...”
    He looked to Theo, who had been watching him intently, and said to “Well, yes, perhaps you would like to know about our security contingencies, pilot.”
    Crowley, undaunted, and ignoring man's continued use of the word pilot when speaking of Theo, continued.
    “I don't understand, sir. We have been through numerous checkpoints and permission desks.  Why should we arrive here at all if we're not permitted to be here? All we need do is...”
    “Enough!”
    Crowley subsided.
    “I do not doubt that you are scholars, sir. What I must do is question your goals.”
    “All here in the letter we have copies of, all of us have copies of and each of your permissions desks has copies of it...”
    The large man sighed loudly...
    “I see,” he said.  “We will consider the possibility that your arrival here just after the archive team departed for lunch is accidental. We will consider why it is that the push-plate answered your push; it ought not have.”
    He strode about, and as he did Theo saw that two of the... call them guards, they acted like guards, Theo decided, two of the guards were on point, still in pose. Ah, but then she'd slouched a bit into...
    Now she straightened again, made sure her arms were awkwardly posed. Surely they couldn't be worried about ...
    “Pilot, your role in this, please?”
    His glare on her again, face stern.
    She sighed, actually relaxing. Good she could explain..
    “I'm not a pilot. I'm here with Kamele. My mother.  Kamele Waitley.”
    “Good,” he said. “Very good!” he wandered toward the door as he spoke, as if inspecting things only he could see...
    He turned then, holding a small box in his hand.
    “Tell me, Ms. Waitely not-a-pilot, why do you have this?”
    This was her bowli ball, and he drew his arm sharply and threw it at...at Crowely!
    She was off the floor instantly, eyes grabbing the trajectory, arm spearing, hand cradling and calming the ball's wild gyrations, spinning around ...
    The large man stood  ready to receive ready to...
    She spun entirely around as taught, let the ball relax into her hand.
    The she looked at it, certain that it was in fact the ball Win Ton ...
    “You stole this!”
    The man laughed, almost ugly as he let the ball reception pose bleed off into a forceful step toward her.
    “Yes, well. It is in your possession at the moment, so it is not stolen.”
    “From my bags!”
    “Yes,” he admitted, “from your bags.”
    Kamele's voice came quietly, floating across the room as if sung in low hymn.
    “Not Delgado, Theo. Not home....”
    “Excellent recall, Kamele Waitley. Thank you. Not Delgado indeed.”
    He turned his back on the group and walked into the hall without comment; Theo's quick eyes could see him raise a comm-link to lips.  He listened, spoke, listened spoke, then returned to the room, slowly.
    “You,” he said then to the escort, “you will come with us my friend.”
    He turned expansively.
    “You scholars have arrived at your destination. Indeed, we discover your tour of permissions desks to be have been appropriate, though perhaps somewhat incomplete. And so scholars, you may stay and perhaps see your precious papers today, if the archivists have time. It would have been much easier had your Professor Beltaire arrived with you, for her branch of the family has unlimited permission to be with the archives they have bestowed on us...”
    “Emeritus Professor Beltaire is elderly, sir, and has given up the joys of space travel...”
    “Hah!” The man was silent, and Theo saw a quirk of something around his mouth before he continued... “
    “Professor Crowley, sir, are you not in fact a ten-year older than Professor Beltaire?”
    Theo shook her head in wonderment. Clearly a scholar in his field, this one.
    “Sir, on Delgado it is rude to ask the age of a colleague.”
    The man laughed.
    “On Delgado, a colleague need only look to the directory for such information. Indeed, it would be rude to ask.”
    “Please, scholars, be seated. Your patience is requested.  Several of my assistants will insure that you not be disturbed in your work.”
    Hafley muttered something approving, and Crowley relaxed.
    Theo sighed, feeling drained and...
    Obedient, Crowley, Kamele, and Hafley began moving toward the closest chairs, while Theo sighted one toward the back wall that appealed to her.
    The large man danced a move and stood in front of her.
    “You, Theo Waitley, will accompany us for the duration of the studies. I'm sure they will go quickly. Come...”
    “My daughter!” Kamele's voice rose, “she's a child!”
    The man turned toward Kamele and raised his hand.
    “Your daughter is not home, Kamele Waitley I have heard you say so yourself. She will not be harmed,but she will remain with us, as she is not a child.”
    By then Crowley had reached Kamele's side.
    “We go...” the man said to Theo and considerately indicated the door.
    Theo felt her breath catch, and ...
    “Please, the bowli ball in your pocket and to remain there.”
    Advertently, she pocketed the ball and walked out.

                                                            * *
    What she hadn't expected was comfort. The room itself looked ancient in a way that places weren't ancient on Delgado. The room wasn't in disrepair, but it gave the air of use, and of having been adjusted. The floor was covered by .... an amazing carpet. She found her eyes drawn to it, knew it to be hand-work.
    The man said to her “Pilot, you may call me Captain. Please have a seat. We will have some refreshments for you, as you have had a long day....”
    She sat on the indicated chair, found it quite comfortable, roused herself to repeat:
    “I'm not a pilot. Really. I'm... I have no training, I'm just a student.” She felt heat rising then, “if you've been through my stuff you saw my classwork...”
    “Please,” he said, “let us not argue over this. Relax, it is a nice chair, much nicer than they have in the bowels of the archives!”
    One of his assistants came in with some drinkware on a tray.
    “You must be thirsty.”
    He offered Theo the tray and she smelled ..
    “That's not wine or alcohol?”    
    He looked over the glasses and sniffed.
    “No, nothing like.  Water, with flavoring of our local fruits. This one close to me is plain water, the one to your left is redberry, the one in the center is frugal-fruit, the one to the right is a very sweet child's drink I'm embarrassed to have offered. Frugal-fruit is good. Redberry is acceptable. Chade is little more than dilute sucrose with rose coloring!”
    She was thirsty and ... she might as well have something wet.  
    With an effort she reached for the plain water, and found it cold.
    “There, that will help.  But since we are here and not with the scholars, I will ask questions. If you are not a pilot, why did you spend so much time on the voyage with pilots?”
    Theo shrugged. “They were there, and they didn't mind talking with me.  And Win Ton, he didn't have much to do early in the trip, so he practiced Terran with me, like some of the professors did.”
    “I see,”the man said seriously, “you a simple student and a Scout decides to practice languages with you?”
    Theo thought about it – the man had settled into a chair near a desk, having taken the frugal-fruit for himself – and then nodded.
    “If you want to be able to talk to regular people,” she suggested, “doesn't it make sense to talk with them really?  I mean, some scholars just can't talk with regular citizens...”
    “I see your point,” he admitted.
    “And you are not adult? Certainly you seem competent and ...”
    “I haven't had my gigneri,” she shared, wondering if she should blush, but failing to. “So, on Delgado, I'm not able to sign contract for myself or anything.”
    “Odd world Delgado, so tell me about your classes...”
    She did that, explaining about the class divisions and the ...
    “And so you are not a pilot?”
    “No, I told you. A student.”
    “And how many years have you known this Scout pilot Cho sig'radia?”
    Something about his tone of voice roused her, and she realized she'd been almost sleepy.
    There – he was watching something on his desk. She was being lie-tested!
    “I just met her on the trip. I told you.”
    “And where is she going?”
    Theo realized he was watching the desk and not her...
    “No,”  he said suddenly. “The door is locked and the elevators we used will not answer you. Relax. Questions can't hurt you if you have nothing to hide.”
    She glared at him.
    “You still have time to answer the question.”
    She considered refusing.
    Advertency. This is not home...
    “I don't know where she is going. Ask her, she's at the station.”
    “That she isn't,” he said gently, “the Scout ship is gone.  I would ask you again, where is she going?”
    “I don't know.”
    “This Win Ton, maybe you know here he is going?”
    “Not home,” she bit out. “He hates it there and they don't like him.”
    He sighed.
    “So, he was your bed friend was he?”
    Startled she almost dropped the glass she'd been sipping from.
    He raised his eyebrows, looked at her carefully.
    “Not your lover?”
    She sighed. This was so strange a question...
    “No”, she admitted, “not my lover.”
    He laughed then.
    “Hormones, young one. No doubt your time will come.”
    Now she did redden.  Maybe she should have....
    “Why you? Why did you come with Kamele Waitley?”
    “She was afraid to leave me at home by myself!”
    He looked sharply at her.
    “So I see. A woman of sense. Then why are the scholars here, really?”
    Theo sighed, tried to frame the answer...
    “This is where the truth is,” she said and then she laughed. “Someone's ... tampering with Melchiza's history. The scholars have to have it right. If you can't trust a scholar from Delgado, who can you trust?”
    There was a sharp buzz then, and the man rose, glancing at his comm-link.
    “An excellent question.  It appears that the scholars are done. I trust their scholarship is good.”
    “Rise, please, we are done and I will return you...”
    It almost hurt to get out of the chair...
    “A comfort field,” he said quietly, “it relaxes you. Thank you for your cooperation and for not attempting to flee...”
    Theo stared into his face, said nothing, and then put the glass down, gently. She stretched, felt the dance move, let it stretch her limber...
    “Let's go,” she insisted, heading toward the door.
    “Yes, let us go” he said. “I declare the investigation over.”