After another minute of typing, Sara placed something on the large view screen at the front of the room. The only thing displayed was a text message that read 'Proper authorization is necessary to access this file.'

"What record is this?" the child asked, unsure of what exactly needed to be authorized.

"You tell me, Miss gee-emm Harris?" Sara replied with a large grin.

"Oh!" Christiana exclaimed. "How did you know I was looking for something related to the fact that I am a gee-emm?"

"I have been waiting for this ever since I learned you were friends with the Daughter of the local Chief of Police," came Sara's prompt response. "I figured you would eventually learn about the order from the Federals and that you would come down to verify it."

"But how did you know about it?" Christiana asked, curious.

"You silly girl," Sara said with a smile, "All the members of this security team are ex-policewomen. Therefore, we have close ties with law enforcement. Otherwise protecting you matFam would be much harder."

"So you've known about this for Years?"

"Yep" Sara admitted. "Before you ask your Mother ordered us not to tell you about the decree from Cooper's Landing."

"Why?"

"You can go talk to her if you want the answer to that.," Sara said with a shrug. "Now shall we provide the proper authorization? I'm itching to learn precisely what is in this thing."

"You don't know what it says?"

"Not exactly," Sara said. "We were only told a brief overview, so I am curious to see it for myself."

"Okay," Christiana replied, eager to get things over with. "Then let's move over to the identification terminal so I can give it the biometrics."

"All righty then!" Sara answered.

After Sara transferred her data link over to the proper machine, Christiana sat in the chair at the terminal.

Because the authorization screen was on a comp' with the appropriate scanners, it listed what it needed to prove the identity of the person attempting to open the file. Much to Christiana's surprise, seven tests were required to do this. In fact, it demanded every method of testing available on a standard security eye-dee machine.

"Wow! Is this a top-secret document?" Christiana stated with a chuckle.

"Actually, yes it is," came Sara's reply.

"Wait, I was just joking."

"I'm not," Sara replied in all seriousness.

"Why would something like this be classified?" Christiana asked, confused once again.

"Because the average person would see this as showing favoritism to the double handful of gee-ems that are born every decade. If this became public knowledge, it could cause a scandal large enough to end the political careers of many of the people involved."

Christiana's eyes grew wide as she realized how important this order was. Even she was taken aback by this news. While she knew that gee-emms were given abnormal amounts of privilege because of their genetic heritage, she couldn't fathom exactly how influential they were. She simply could not understand why they received special treatment, especially while they were still kids.

"Okay let's get started with the tests," the Sara urged.

This reminded Christiana she had to hurry and return to Johnathan-nii. Otherwise, she'd have to spend the rest of the evening apologizing.

The retinal scan, hand and fingerprint scan, and voiceprint were all completed quickly and painlessly. While a bit gross, the saliva scan also took very little time. The hair follicle test was slightly painful when she had to puck out a strand from her head. Otherwise, it went smoothly.

However, while Sara-nee was helping her take a skin sample, she pressed too hard, and lightly scratched her arm. For some reason, the guard hurried over to the tiny med kit located in the control room and then handed it to Christiana.

"There are adhesive bandages in the kit," Sara said curtly. "Please put a couple on your cut. You don't want it to get infected." She then inched backward from the child, all the while looking away from the girl's injured arm.

It surprised her that Sara insisted she bandage a scrape that small. 'I guess she doesn't like the sight of blood,' she thought as she dressed her insignificant wound with two little padded strips.

It was only when her scratch was covered that Sara-nee walked back over to stand next to the girl's chair. "Ahh, that's an improvement," the tall guard exclaimed as a look of relief spread across her face. "Do you feel better?"

While a bit confused by what her friend just said, Christiana responded, "I guess, it never really hurt, to begin with."

"You still need to take care of yourself, even if it's only a scratch," Sara replied. "As a kid, you don't think about it, but people used to die from small scratches that became infected back on Old Earth."

"They carefully sterilized the starships while in the Sol system, so most of those harmful microbes aren't present here on Cooper's World," Christiana muttered.

Meanwhile, Sara put the medical kit away on the other side of the room.

"Now all that's left is the blood test," Sara announced with a cheerful grin. She then handed the youngster two small glass plates and a plastic item roughly the size of an adult's thumb.

"What do I do with these?" Christiana asked in confusion.

"I need for you to prick your finger, put a drop of plasma on one plate. Then place the other piece on top so all four edges are even. Then you have to deposit it in this slot so the machine can complete the final test."

"Umm, I'm not sure how to do that," Christiana said. "Do you mind doing it for me?"

"I will show you how it's done. Okay?" Sara said.
Christiana just shrugged before responding, "Okay."

After Sara-nee showed her the proper procedure, it only took her two tries to get it right. During the time required to do things properly, she noticed that Sara had stood away from her once again. 'Wow, she must really be sensitive to blood if she can't stand to see a drop of it,' she thought as she placed the completed slide into the machine.

"What should I do with this one?" she asked, referring to the improperly made slide, with the ichor located too far from the glass' center. She was careful to only show it to her friend briefly due to her apparent dislike of blood.

Sara-nee quickly looked away from the child when she saw what the youngster was holding up. "You should take it with you and dispose of it once you get inside of the inner quarters. That way it won't fall into the wrong hands. It can be used to falsify your identification after all."

"I never thought of that," Christiana said as she slipped the item into her pocket.

Just as she did the console beeped and the words on the screen changed to "Access Granted."

"Now let's see what's in this puppy," Sara said as she looked at the words appearing on the screen.

"What's a puppy?" Christiana asked, not understanding her friend's comment. "I mean I know it's a young canine, but what does that have to do with opening this document?"

"It is a saying from Old Earth," Sara explained. "It is a way to refer to an item."

"Why are you using an ancient expression like that?"

Sar-nee simply grinned and shrugged. "Okay let's look at what is in this file."

With that, the guard scooted her chair from her workstation so that it was next to Christiana's. "Scoot over a little," she commented as she tapped away on the keyboard.

She shifted her seat without complaint, her attention now fixated on the screen in front of her.

On the display was the text of the memo. At the top of the document, in full color, was the Seal of the Alliance and underneath of it were the blue-tinted words 'From the Office of the President.' The rest of the black on white text began simply, 'By order of the President of the Colony, with the unanimous consent of both Houses of Congress, the following is now in effect.'

The document went on in a numbered bullet-point fashion. '1. Any and all misdemeanors perpetrated by the following which occur within your jurisdiction are to be overlooked and ignored: a. Christiana Washington gm Harris b. Haruhi Washington gm Hirohito'

"Wait," Christiana commented. "I thought this record was for all gee-emms in the Colony. Why are the two of us mentioned by name?"

"I am not sure," the security agent absentmindedly responded as she looked carefully at the document. She had a troubled look on her face for a moment, but that expression dissolved into her normal approachable smile. "If I had to guess I would say that they put out these directives individually to the prefecture in which the gee-emms live. Then it would make sense to name the individuals covered by the order."

"But this memo is from the President's Office," Christiana pointed out. "Wouldn't that mean that they would have to issue a decree whenever a new gee-emm is born?"

"Well, if they issued them at birth then it would follow that both you and Haruhi are on the same document," Sara explained. "You were both born on the same day after all."

"Then shouldn't it be time-stamped on the date of our birth?" Christiana continued. "Why don't we..."

"Ahh that's not important right now," the sentry quickly interjected with a troubled smile. "Let's keep reading."

"Ohhh kay..." she replied while looking at Sara-nee strangely. Even though she was very naïve, she was smart enough to realize when an adult was trying to divert her attention. 'What's going on here?' she wondered as she returned her scrutiny to the screen.

'Any and all felonies perpetrated by the following which occur within your jurisdiction are to be punished by the head of their corresponding House: a. Christiana Washington gm Harris b. Haruhi Washington gm Hirohito'

"What does that mean?" Christiana asked. "What's a felony?"

"A felony is a major crime, such as aggravated assault or grand larceny," Sara explained. "These are violations that people commit, which gets them put in jail for a very long time."

"So we really can get away with murder," Christiana whispered.

"I wouldn't say that." Sara-nee said. "Keep reading."

'If you suspect either of these individuals of such acts they are to be taken into custody, returned home and released to their Mother's care.'

"So Okaa-sama would be the one who would punish us?" Christiana said, her disbelief clear in her tone. "What could she do that would be worse than the police?"

"Oh, I don't know. She could make you old and wrinkly!" Sara said in a bantering tone while reaching over and tickling the youngster.

Taken totally off guard, Christiana burst into a fit of laughter. After a minute or so of torturing the poor child's belly, the sentinel stopped.

After getting herself under control, Christiana asked, also in a joking manner. "So what happens if I am good and don't break the law?"

"Oh, well, then you will never grow old and you will never die!"

"You know, you are the silliest grown-up I have ever met," Christiana replied with a huge grin.

"Yep, I'm incredibly silly," came Sara's quick reply.