This was safer territory for Caine, too. "Both, actually. I'm here on my own time and charge plate, but I'm going to be working, too." He paused, radiating a combination of shyness and pride. "I'm going to write a book."
Galway's eyebrows arched in polite surprise. "Really! About Plinry?"
"About the war, actually. I know a lot of books have been written, but most of them focus on Earth or the Centauri worlds. I want to write one from the point of view of people in the more distant parts of the TDE. Since Plinry was a sector capital and major military base, I figure it should have all the background records I'll need."
"Our archives are quite extensive," Galway nodded. "I trust you have the proper authorization papers?"
Here was where the bite of the government's eleventh-hour raid was going to catch up with him, Caine knew. "What, you need permission to write books here?" he said, smiling.
"Oh, no—I meant your permit to look in the records. You've got that, don't you?"
Caine let his grin vanish. "What permit is this?"
Galway frowned in turn. "The standard TDE Record Search form. You need one any time you want to look at official documents."
"Damn! Nobody told me I'd need anything like that here." Caine let indignation slip into the embarrassed anger in his voice. "Hell. Look, I'm a member of the TDE government, and nothing I want to see is classified. Can I maybe look at them with a guard watching over my shoulder?"
Galway shrugged. "You can ask at the Records Building, but I don't think they'll let you. Sorry."
"Damn." Caine glowered at the floor for a moment, then looked up at the verification machine. "Isn't that damn computer done yet?" he muttered irritably.
"I'll see if I can hurry it up." Galway touched a switch; seconds later a green