Lieutenant Ras El'Heem - Special Collections
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((Special Collections, Deck 2, Main Compartment, Deep Space 33))
After too many days bleeding together beneath an endless procession of administrative minutiae, Ras decided he needed to occupy his mind with something else, if only to remind himself it still enjoyed being challenged. Most people reached for a crossword or a jigsaw puzzle when they wanted to scratch a mental itch. Ras found himself drawn back to a question that had nagged him since his last visit to deep space 33.
He had spent the better part of an hour interrogating the Khitomer's computer. Each additional observation briefly refined the results before the search inevitably collapsed back into the same sterile conclusion.
NO MATCH FOUND.
Again. And again. Eventually, Ras abandoned the search itself and asked a different question.
Where you go to find information that wasn't in the computer?
The station directed him to Special Collections. A secure archival repository tucked beneath the Federation Embassy on Deck 2 of Deep Space 33's main compartment. According to the directory, it was comprised of uncatalogued historical records, diplomatic archives, archaeological surveys, rare manuscripts, and other materials considered too valuable, or too sensetive for inclusion within the Federation's public information network. He also suspected some degree of “haven’t gotten around to it” was a large degree of their obscurity. Access required authorization through the embassy itself, however, the embassy official at the security desk barely looked up after confirming his authorization. A brief nod was all the he received before the door behind her disengaged with a muted click.
Inside, curving shelves followed the curvature of the station, ascending all the way up into mezzanines overhead. Physical volumes occupied only a fraction of the collection. Their bindings ranging from polished leather to unfamiliar composite materials that caught the light strangely. Between them were transparent cases containing isolinear archives, crystalline memory matrices, optical wafers, and storage media he could not recognize. Four research stations stood in the center of the main floor, each capable of projecting holographic images into the air, though every one of them sat dormant. The place was empty.
Not temporarily empty, like he arrived between visitors, but a kind of liminal space. Ras stood in the middle of that conclave of knowledge for a moment, taking it in. It was odd, in an age when nearly any question could be answered by a computer in seconds, entire rooms still existed for the questions that could not. Ras took a spot at the nearest terminal and began a search for the broadest terms that could still get him vaguely where he intended to be. The display rattled off hundreds of references, many in the same archives. There were excavation reports and comparative studies of funerary iconography. One result on cross-cultural analyses of religious statuaries looked particularly relevant. Each entry pointed to a physical location somewhere within the stacks.
Rather than refining the search into ever narrower parameters, Ras decided to tug the first thread and see where it took him. His prosthetic fingers drifted along shelf markers as alphanumeric designations gave way to dated entries. A volume on pre-warp devotional art became and index of metallic casting traditions and that, in turn, referenced an archaeological survey from a forgotten colonial expedition. Progress felt less like finding answers, and more like finding more questions.
His hand reached for a weathered archival case when a voice spoke from somewhere behind him.
DeVeau: Response
Ras stopped with his hand still suspended over the case. His eyes narrowed, recognizing the voice of the woman standing behind him. He whirled around to see Commander DeVeau. His left hand moved to his ridges and his right opened wide as he leaned back in surprise.
El’Heem: By the Redeemer…::moving towards her:: Commander DeVeau! It’s been too long. I could say I’ve been thinking about calling but…I’ve been busy.
He was at a loss. Not only could he never have expected to see his old academy professor in the flesh, but he had no clue how she had found him, here of all places.
DeVeau: Response
He chuckled as he looked behind him at the section of archives he was investigating.
El’Heem: Welllll…archaeology was never my strong point. ::pause as he cocked his head to one side:: What…are you doing here? On DS33, in the Special Collections?
DeVeau: Response
TAGS/TBC
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Lieutenant JG Ras El’Heem
Science Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
K240106RE3