Bolbay strode into the center of the chamber. I now wish for us to move to the alibi-archive pavilion, she said, facing the adjudicator.
Sard glanced at the timepiece mounted on the ceiling, clearly concerned about how long all this was taking. Youve already established that Scholar Hulds alibi archive cant possibly show anything leading up to Ponter Boddits disappearance. She scowled. Im sureshe said this in a tone that would brook no argumentthat Scholar Huld and whoever is going to speak on his behalf will agree that this is true without you having to drag us over there to prove it.
Bolbay nodded respectfully. Indeed, Adjudicator. But it isnt Scholar Hulds alibi cube I wish to have unlocked. It is Ponter Boddits.
It wont show anything of his disappearance, either, said Sard, sounding exasperated, and for the same reason: the thousand armspans of rock blocking its transmissions.
Quite true, Adjudicator, said Bolbay. But it is not Scholar Boddits disappearance that I wish to review. Rather, I want to show you events dating from 254 months ago.
Two hundred and fifty-four! exclaimed the adjudicator. How could something that long past possibly be germane to these proceedings?
If you will indulge me, said Bolbay, I think you will see that it has great bearing.
Adikor was tapping above his browridge with a cocked thumb, thinking. Two-and-a-half hundredmonths: that was a little over nineteen years. Hed known Ponter back then; they were both 145s, and had entered the Academy simultaneously. But what event from that far back could
Adikor found himself on his feet. Worthy Adjudicator, I object to this.
Sard looked at him. Object? she said, startled to hear such a thing during a legal proceeding. On what basis? Bolbay isnt proposing to unlock your alibi archiveonly Scholar Boddits. And since he is missing, then opening his archive is something Bolbay, as tabant of his closest living relatives, has a right to request.
Adikor was angry with himself. Sard might have indeed denied Bolbays request, if hed just kept his mouth shut. But now she was no doubt curious about what it was that Adikor wanted to keep hidden.
Very well, said Sard, making her decision. She looked out at the crowd of spectators. You people will have to stay here, until I decide whether this is something that needs to be seen publicly. She shifted her gaze. Scholar Boddits immediate family, Scholar Huld, and whoever will be speaking on behalf of him may join us, assuming none of them are Exhibitionists. And, at last, her eyes fell on Bolbay. All right, Bolbay. This better be worth my time.
Sard, Bolbay, Adikor, Jasmel, and Megameg, holding Jasmels hand, made their way down the wide, moss-covered corridor to the alibi pavilion. Bolbay apparently couldnt resist a dig at Adikor as they walked along. No one to speak on your behalf, eh? she said.
For once, Adikor did manage to keep his mouth shut.
There werent many people still alive who had been born before the introduction of the Companions: those few from generation 140 and even fewer from 139 who hadnt yet died. For everyone else, a Companion had been part of their lives since just after birth, when the initial infant-sized implant was installed. The celebration of the thousandth month since the beginning of the Alibi Era would happen shortly; great festivities were planned worldwide.
Even just here in Saldak, there were tens of thousands who had been born and had already died since the first Companion was installed; that initial implant had been put into the forearm of its own creator, Lonwis Trob. The great alibi-archive pavilion, here, next to the Gray Council building, was divided into two wings. The one on the south abutted an outcropping of ancient rock; it would be extraordinarily difficult to expand that wing, and so it was used to store the active alibi cubes of those now alive, a number that was pretty much a constant. The north wing, although currently no bigger than the south, could expand for a great distance, as required; when someone died, his or her alibi cube was disconnected from the receiver array and brought there.
Adikor wondered which wing Ponters cube was being stored in now. Technically, the adjudicator had yet to rule that murder had occurred. He hoped it was the wing of the living; he wasnt sure if he could maintain his composure if he had to face Ponters cube on the other side.
Adikor had been to the archives before. The north wing, the wing of the dead, had a separate room, with an open archway leading into it, for each generation. The first one was tiny, holding a single cube, that of Walder Shar, the only member of generation 131 to still be alive in Saldak when the Companions were introduced. The next four rooms were successively bigger, housing cubes from members of generations 132, 133, 134, and 135, each ten years older than its predecessor. Starting with generation 136, all the rooms were the same size, although very few cubes had yet been transferred over from generations after 144, almost all of whose members were still alive.
The south wing had but a single room, with 30,000 receptacles for alibi cubes. Although originally there had been great order in the south wing, with the initial collection of cubes sorted by generation and, within each generation, subdivided by sex, much of that had been lost over time. Children were all born in orderly lots, but people died at a wide range of ages, and so cubes from subsequent generations had been plugged into vacant receptacles wherever they happened to be.
That made finding a particular cube out of more than 25,000the population of Saldakimpossible without a directory. Adjudicator Sard presented herself to the Keeper of Alibis, a portly woman of generation 143.
Healthy day, Adjudicator, said the woman, sitting on a saddle-seat behind a kidney-shaped table.
Healthy day, said Sard. I wish to access the alibi archive of Ponter Boddit, a physicist from generation 145.
The woman nodded and spoke into a computer. The machines square screen displayed a series of numbers. Follow me, she said. Sard and the others did just that.
For all her bulk, the keeper had a sprightly step. She led them down a series of corridors, the walls of which were lined with niches, each containing an alibi cube, a block of reconstituted granite about the size of a persons head. Here we are, said the woman. Receptacle number 16,321: Ponter Boddit.
The adjudicator nodded, then turned her wrinkled wrist with its own Companion to face the glowing blue eye on Ponters cube. I, Komel Sard, adjudicator, hereby order the unlocking of alibi receptacle 16,321, for just and appropriate legal inquiries. Timestamp.
The eye on the receptacle turned yellow. The adjudicator stepped out of the way, and the archivist held up her Companion. I, Mabla Dabdalb, Keeper of Alibis, hereby concur with the unlocking of receptacle 16,321, for just and appropriate legal inquiries. Timestamp. The eye turned red, and a tone sounded.
There you are, Adjudicator. You can use the projector in room twelve.
Thank you, said Sard, and they marched back up to the front. Dabdalb pointed out the room shed assigned them, and Sard, Bolbay, Adikor, Jasmel, and Megameg walked over to it and went inside.
The room was large and square, with a small gallery of saddle-seats against one wall. Everyone sat down, except for Bolbay, who moved over to the wall-mounted control console. It was only within this building that the alibi archives could be accessed; to protect against unauthorized viewing, the archive pavilion was completely isolated from the planetary information network, and had no outside telecommunications lines. Although it was sometimes inconvenient to have to physically come to the archives to access ones own recordings, the isolation was considered an appropriate safeguard.