Chapter 9

The Shaft was remarkably still as Yakhir prepared to walk out of the R1 tunnel for a brief march to the entrance. Graduation day had finally arrived and the apprentice was to be elevated to archivist. For three years since his father's death, Yakhir's elevation had been widely anticipated by many, both friends and enemies, and that made him nervous.

Three years ago, he had nearly died from an assassination attempt. He had nearly lost his sister, yet he had gained his betrothed. Yakhir shivered slightly in the faint breeze of the ventilation system as he considered how close they had all come to the edge of the grave. Surely, he and his sister Janina had been marked for removal, but he also began to suspect that so had Adilah after her betrothal to Yakhir had been made public. Her standing with Al-Taquir had all but banished her from clan of Shaheen. They had all spent three years looking over their backs, just in case.

Her undocumented expulsion had set tongues wagging throughout the tribe, even far beyond the limits of the town. Peculiar though it may seem, that unwritten banishment had brought a focus to the power and politics of the Council of Elders among the population. The Clan of Al-Taquir had neither set out to tangle with another clan nor had it done so in the past. The clan was respected for the dedication of its members to the future and its struggle raise up the tribe from its degradation through knowledge and hard work. The tribe passed judgment in its unseen manner and Arda Shaheen was forced to retreat from his attempt to overtake the Council.

Yakhir clucked his tongue as he followed the thread of events beyond his control. The tribe had sided with his clan, but not because of the attempted murder of Janina and him, but because of Adilah. The siblings had no proof of their attack other than an easily dismissed knife, and their aunts, uncles and cousins had been reluctant to protest for justice. His clan, skeptical and cautious, had not sided with his household until the outing of Adilah, an outsider welcomed into his home. "Welcoming the stranger into their midst" took more precedence than the attacks on their lives, which meant that clan support came with caveats and strings attached. Another cherished childhood belief turned to dust.

Even the undocumented council of master archivists, a group that did not exist on paper, had sided with Yakhir immediately upon the elevation of the new Archivist. His own flesh and blood had dilly-dallied until the tribal winds blew in their favor. He didn't trust his own clan fully, and that was considered a bad omen in his world. It was a small source of bitterness that he kept to himself.

Even so, his back and been guarded in the Shafts and in the streets for three years. Those three years came to an end today. Today he became a man with full rights and the danger ratcheted up again. He would be expected to take up his own battles at the front of the field and could no longer lurk behind others further forward.

Intrigue and confrontation were coming; only a fool could deny such tidings. The Shaheen Clan had long memories and didn't accept defeat gracefully, considering such loss as a smear upon their honor. No longer a neophyte but still young and fresh, Yakhir was vulnerable to a political assault. The Al-Taquir clan had agreed amongst themselves that Arda Shaheen would try again to gain power, he had to try or surrender his chieftain's authority, and Yakhir's elevation was the first time in three years that an opportunity arose.

Elevating from apprentice to professional was usually a minor moment for family and maybe a friend or two. When Janina had graduated as an agronomist, the few clansmen who came had made a toast of fruit juice and cookies before sending her off to her first posting. Since archivists were few and precious, their elevation held a bit more ceremony, even though the archivist wasn't traveling anywhere to a first posting; they returned to the Shafts and often to their master.

Yakhir was ready. He turned into the Shaft and bowed to Master Kevit-Nakar, taking his place beside his master. They walked out into the mid-morning sunlight to the ceremony just outside the entrance. Yakhir had to blink twice before his pupils adjusted to the bright sun.

Whatever he had expected, he was taken aback by the gathering. All of the master archivists stood in the front, with the archivists behind them along with the other, few apprentices. His entire clan stood behind them, along with his mother and Adilah. Several Council members stood among the crowd as well. Among the entire crowd only Archivist Atto, who stood apart and forward of the rest, seemed to be sweating and uncomfortable.

His master led him to a point before the Chief Archivist and pronounced the ritual introduction of a completed apprenticeship. The Archivist replied with his formal lines and then presented the symbolic key to the Shafts on a chain that the archivist wore around his neck as a sign of office. Yakhir bowed to the Archivist and then to his master, who placed the key around his neck. His master kissed him on the forehead as a gesture of respect and an end of his obligation to his student. Cheer and applause arose from the crowd as his family and clan pushed through the archivists to embrace the newest adult member of the clan.

In the Archivist Building, Yakhir hopes soared because of the large crowd, but he was mistaken. He got the same damn cookies and juice that every other completed apprentice got. Adilah read his thoughts and whispered in his ear as everyone departed, "Just wait until tonight and you will be properly rewarded for your accomplishment."

He blushed bright red and his fellow archivists laughed aloud at his embarrassment, much to his consternation. Yakhir felt his ears burn when Adilah responded to the laughter by shaking her butt and hips at them as she walked out the door. The gathered group roared all the louder and Yakhir could only shake his head. Kemal slapped him across the shoulders, telling him he was one lucky man and that she was one lucky woman, if the rumors were true. Yakhir stifled the automatic response of staring down at his crotch. The laughter rose that much louder. Everyone agreed they wouldn't forget this ceremony for a long while.

As the archivists drifted back to the Shafts, Master Kevit-Nakar motioned Yakhir to follow him to one of study carrels that the masters used to write their research. Though the seating was tight, the two of them managed to sit in the small space with the door shut.

The master assured him that they could speak privately without concern of unauthorized ears listening.

Yakhir waited for his master to speak, "What do you wish to research, archivist?"

Yakhir was puzzled, "Don't I have to take the assignments given to me by Archivist Atto?"

"Usually, that is the case," Kevit-Nakar agreed, "but you are in an unusual position. You will do his bidding, as we all do, but you are obligated to follow your father's research as well. Don't you agree?"

"Master," Yakhir began but he was cut off.

"You have earned the right to call me 'Jamiel', young archivist; you have passed all of your master's level exams and except for a year's required wait and a thesis, which is probably already indexed and annotated on your datapad, you are a master. Also let my first name be an agreed sign that you wish to discuss your real research."

Yakhir swallowed as he realized he had crossed another boundary, "What do you know of my father's research?"

Jamiel smiled, "I have been waiting for that question for three years. My last assignment for your father was to locate all of the Neo-Mandarin sites in Shaft Two that dealt with computers, the Neural Net, or a consortium which used the term 'Diamond' in their name, logo, or subtitle."

Yakhir felt his curiosity start to boil and a hundred questions came to his lips. However, the older man stayed his questions with a raised hand. He continued, "Three more of us were given the assignment to seek out Neo-Europeno, Neo-Latino and Neo-Swahili companies that used the terms 'Ruby', 'Emerald', or 'Sapphire.' in the same manner."

"The four great languages that emerge from the Fundi War represent each of these precious stones?" Yakhir asked confused.

"No," Jamiel explained. "remember your first year history lessons. Among the companies and nations that emerge after WW3, all of the languages of the world collapsed into four. Before the Fundi War, as you prefer to call it, we believe that there were thousands of languages, but a basic 7 or 8 that were used for international commerce. After the war, the hundreds of human languages, large and small, folded into four based on geographical location. This is old material that you already know."

Yakhir agreed and waited impatiently for the master to continue the lesson into his father's work. He didn't have to wait.

Jamiel continued, "The international community agreed on four initiatives to help them emerge from the nuclear devastation of The Fundi War. They abbreviated the names and descriptions of these missions by four precious stones: ruby, emerald, sapphire, and diamond. Each geographic location appeared to concentrate on one gem more than the others, although we have found many exceptions. There were contracts and money to be made under each of these initiatives, and many of those successful companies stored their Precious Gems archives on this site."

Jamiel took a different tangent, "Do you believe in coincidences?"

Yakhir gave a pinched smile, "No, and neither does my sister and mother."

Jamiel ignored the political inferences, "Good, it runs in the family. Your father did not believe in coincidences either. He believed that this site was a deliberate repository for the Precious Gems consortiums and that there was a reason why these records were buried in this brutal, distant corner of the world."

"What is the reason?" Yakhir whispered fiercely.

This time the master held up both of his hands, "Your father never said, because he didn't finish finding the answer. Suli Al-Taquir believed that the answer to the origin of The Great Burn is in these particular archives that relate to the gems. Your job, as far as the masters are concerned, is to finish his research and find the answer. Time is short, archivist. Atto grows bold again and when he behaves as such, we know that Ardo Shaheen is gearing up to attack the Council again."

"Al-Taquir clan expected no less," Yakhir admitted.

"Good, forewarned is forearmed," Jamiel concluded. "let us get to work. First we report to Atto for your camelshit assignment and then we return to the Shafts for the real work."

Dinner was a festive meal with relatives, and a leg of lamb on the spit out back. Had the occasion been grander, a whole lamb would have been spitted, but a leg of lamb was still rather extravagant. Yakhir was reminded in mid bite of his first real conversation with his sister over lamb-shish.

She had claimed that the expectation placed upon them was that both of them would have all of the answers when they graduated from their apprenticeships. The prophecy slammed down upon all his warm and fuzzy thoughts. He swallowed the suddenly chewy meat, understanding for the first time that the clan was serving the festive dish because they celebrating his expected immediate rise. Yakhir was to take Suli Al-Taquir's place. He licked the sheen of fat off of his lips not knowing what to do next.