Chapter Summary: Exploring the library on the desert planet, and meeting its Guardian.
Chapter Word Count: 5,660
Author's notes: Yes, we once more encounter Stargate inspired wormhole gates. They are called various things as the story progresses, but there are basically 3 type - the kind created by the Ancients, encountered several stories ago in 'A Journalist Abroad', small, more modern stargates that are big enough for two or the people at a time to use; and a larger kind out in space, large enough for a decent sized ship to go through. The last two were created by the creators of the libraries we encounter over the next few chapters. A note about them in a later chapter. I'd rather not spoil things too much.
Continuity Note: All of the separate parts have been written a year apart (in 10 chapter chunks a year, during NanoWriMo. (posted on AO3 as separate stories, mostly)) Unfortunately, that has led to some continuity issues. Minor facts or backstory that have changed over time. Some day I may go back and fix that, if I have time.
"Light would be good," Andy said. "More than that," she waved at the light coming in the door. Fumbling in a pocket, she hunted for her flashlight.
"Hrmph!" Miranda said, getting to her feet. Small floating lights started to surround them.
"Nice," Andy said, standing. "Not much to see in here is there," she murmured, looking around. "Everyone okay?" She said, looking at Miranda and Memo.
"No damage," Miranda said, "except to my dignity."
"Fine, fine," Memo said, looking around. "What is this place?"
"An empty room?" Andy said.
"An illusion," Miranda said. "Something is interfering with what you are seeing."
"Really? What is here that we're not seeing?" Andy asked. "White walls. White floor. White ceiling. Empty."
"A large ring embedded in that wall," Miranda said, pointing at the far wall. "And a light panel on that wall." She pointed at a different wall.
"Not seeing it," Andy said. "Did one of us hit our head on the door?"
Miranda frowned. She placed a hand on Andy's forehead. "You seem to be as sane as you normally are."
"That's not saying much," Andy said, sighing. "I wonder what's causing it? A perception filter?"
"A what?" Miranda said. Memo just looked confused.
"A perception filter," Andy said. "Standard bit of Time Lord tech. It confuses your mind so you don't see reality but what someone else wants you to see."
"There are no Time Lords," Miranda said.
"How do we know that?" Andy said. "There was that Moon Princess. Why not Time Lords?"
Miranda sighed. "The one does not necessarily follow the other. It would require a suspension of disbelief all out of proportion to reality for that kind of being to exist..."
"What is a Time Lord?" Memo said. "And what is this ring that we cannot see?"
"A Time Lord is a fictional being who could manipulate time, and is popular in some parts of our world," Miranda said.
"I'd prefer that they exist," Andy said. "Though I could do without their enemies. Not sure I want to fight Daleks or Cybermen."
"Of course," Miranda said. "As if our current enemies aren't enough."
"Co-incidentally, Romana seems to be named after a Time Lord person," Andy said. "She claims her mother named her after a friend. It may be a coincidence, but I suspect at least one Time Lord has wandered through one of those rifts in space we seem to have too many of in our sector."
"There are legends of rifts in space, leading to strange and unusual places," Memo said, "but there have been no reports of any sightings of them in over a millennia."
"Well, we have a bunch of them in our sector," Andy said. "Even went through one, and had some interesting adventures getting home afterward."
"The dimensional walls do appear to be exceedingly thin on the outer edges of Serpent Clan territory," Miranda said.
"But we don't talk about that," Andy said.
"Talk about what?" Ixchel said, her voice coming from out in the hallway. "And weren't you going to wait for us?"
"Well, I found this," Andy said, holding up her arm and bracelet, "and wanted to see if it would open the door."
"The door did open," Memo said, nodding.
"After a push," Andy said. She noticed Romana peeking into the room from behind Ixchel. "Can either of you see anything other than white walls and floor?"
"White walls," Romana said. "Blindingly white. But there is also a faint buzzing."
"Not hearing a buzzing," Andy said. "You?" She asked Memo.
"No," Memo said.
"So, there isn't one of those Ancient rings in that wall?" Ixchel said, pointing at the far wall.
"You can see it? So can Miranda," Andy said. "What's it look like?"
"An Ancient Ring," Ixchel said. "A smaller version than I'm familiar with but otherwise the same."
"That's unexpected," Andy said. "I thought we found all of those?"
"We found all of the ones linked together on the edge of Serpent Clan territory," Miranda said. "The Galactics never said those were the only ones."
"So, can we fix it, so all of us can see it?" Andy asked. "I don't like anyone messing with my head."
"Possibly," Miranda said. "If we can find the controls for it."
"You can't just zap it away?" Andy said, pouting.
"No," Miranda said.
"There aren't many controls," Ixchel said. "But only one of them seems to be turned on." She walked over to the wall over and pushed something. There was a click, and the faint odor of ozone.
Andy felt a sharp tug at her head. The room seemed to shift and change while she watched. "That is definitely one of those rings," she said.
"Smaller," Ixchel said. "The ones I'm familiar with are designed for vehicles to move through them. This is much smaller."
"One or two person Rings," Andy said, nodding. "Could be a safety feature, only allowing limited travel."
"Or linking different locations that are meant to be kept secure," Ixchel said. "Easier to defend."
"That would fit with this locked room, and that perception filter," Andy said. "Someone didn't want anyone to know this was here." She leaned forward and touched the ring. "It's not crystal. Shouldn't it be?"
"The Goa'uld rings are a rare metal, naquada," Ixchel said. "The other rings were crystal."
"What is this then?" Andy asked.
Miranda cautiously touched the Ring. "It has a crystalline structure," she said, after a minute. "I suspect naquada is also crystal in structure, even if it appears metallic to us."
"So, to build your own rings you need some kind of exotic crystal?" Andy said. "I don't think we're going to be building our own any time soon."
"This is one of the Rings you've spoken about," Romana said, joining them in the room. "Where does it go?"
"If it's like the others we've traveled through in this sector, it has set locations. If it's like the other ones, you can set your destination," Andy said.
"We should leave this for later," Miranda said, "unless we find a manual."
"So, no just pushing buttons until something happens?" Andy said, pouting. "That's no fun."
"Safer," Miranda said. "I'd rather not have to search several parsecs for you if you were to get lost in it."
"Well, you could just come with me," Andy said, batting her eyelashes. "Then I won't be lost."
"What is next?" Memo said, ignoring the byplay. "We have the library, though not an easy way to search it, and we have this Ring you say can be used to travel. What is our goal now?"
"We still need to find those Prophets," Andy said. "And find out what they know about the Kraal."
"And the Winter Folk," Romana said.
"Furling," Miranda said. "We may not find them. The prophet said finding one would find the other."
"She also said finding the Prophets won't get us the answers we need," Andy said. "But we're still looking for them. Maybe we should stop?"
"Did you find anything interesting in the city?" She then asked Ixchel and Romana.
"It has underground transportation," Romana said. "We could not determine how to work it. Or where it went when it left the city."
"Didn't seem big enough for that kind of thing," Andy said, frowning. "Why build an underground?"
"What do we look for," Memo said. "What would instructions for the Ring look like?"
"Charts?" Andy said. "There must be a list of destinations for the Ring. Something with symbols like that on it." She waved her hand at a small section of keys in the small control panel. "If we had that we could see what's out there."
"We'll find it," Miranda said.
"I think we should go through the Ring, at least to one of its destinations." Andy said.
"What would that tell you?" Miranda said.
"It's purpose? Assuming it goes somewhere that makes sense. Or at least some clue to where they went," Andy said.
"If it was a mass migration through that Ring it was very slow," Miranda said. "Unless there are others in the city."
"We should keep looking around," Romana said. "Have you found anything else interesting?"
"We do have more of those viewers," Andy said. "And several of these bracelets." She held up her arm.
"We do not know if they would work for anyone else," Miranda said.
"What else," Ixchel said.
"The lower crystal room has the more interesting data crystals," Memo said. "The upper level contains mainly business records."
"So we're still looking for information on the Prophets and Furling?" Ixchel said.
"Nothing about them so far," Andy said. "We have a possible history of the founding of this city, but nothing about the Prophets so far."
"It is surprising that there is no way to search all of the data crystals without reading them one at a time," Romana said.
"No way that we've found. There may be something we are missing," Memo said. "Some place hidden by another of those perception filters."
"But Miranda and Ixchel can see through that," Andy said. "So it isn't perfect."
"This one," Memo said. "What if there are others?"
"They haven't revealed themselves if there are." Andy said.
"This vibration is giving me a headache," Ixchel said, leaning against the door.
"What vibration?" Andy said.
"You don't feel that?" Ixchel said. "It's like a low frequency hum from a star engine."
"No," Andy said. "Where is it coming from?"
"Out in the hallway," Ixchel said, stepping back out of the room.
"Hmm," Andy said. "Can you find out where it is exactly?"
Ixchel shrugged, but went further out into the short hallway. "I am not sure. It doesn't have a direction out here."
"So the entire hallway?" Andy said. "Miranda? Could you look for us?"
"There is definitely a vibration out here," Miranda said, joining Ixchel in the hallway. "It is not a familiar feeling." She rotated carefully. "Nothing seems to be out of place."
"Another perception filter, except one that works on all of us?" Andy asked her.
"No, it's something else," Miranda said. She started pacing, carefully making a circuit of the hall, following the edges, until she came to a stop at what looked like a bare wall.
"They weren't much for decoration," Andy said. "Is there something behind that wall?"
Miranda placed both hands, palms down, against the wall. "Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to want to be there."
"Great," Andy said, sighing. "Mystery object doesn't want to come out and join us."
"It appears to be chained, though how it can be is a mystery," Miranda said.
Romana joined Miranda with her palms resting against the wall. "That is an odd feeling," she said. "Pushing and pulling at the same time. I do not think it has a mind of its own."
"Should be easy to deal with then," Andy said, massaging her forehead.
"Are you feeling well?" Miranda said, watching her over her shoulder.
"Getting a little foggy out here," Andy said, leaning against the opposite wall. Before Miranda could catch her, she slumped to the floor.
Andy opened her eyes, and found herself somewhere else. It was eerily like the previous day when she'd fallen asleep and she and Miranda had ended up in that strange virtual reality where they'd met those two beings. She still thought they were elves, though Miranda didn't agree, even though the language they'd 'gifted' them with was very close to Sindarin.
"Good, good," a squeaky voice said behind her. "You're awake."
Getting to her feet, Andy turned around looking for the owner of the voice. Floating in the air was a small creature, vaguely reminiscent of something from an anime, a chibi-like character. "Where am I?" Andy said.
"Where were you before?" The creature asked. "That's where you are now."
"That isn't a helpful answer," Andy said, frowning. "Who are you?"
"The Guardian," it said. "You have entered my domain."
"And your domain is this empty space?" Andy asked waving at the distant white walls.
"My domain is the Heart of the People," it said. "You and your nosy companions have been rummaging around it like a wild gundan."
"Who are the People, and what's a gundan," Andy said.
"You seem to be one of the People, though you have oddly rounded ears," it said. "And a gundan can only be experienced, not explained."
"My ears are the way they've always been," Andy said. "Where are we? Really?"
"Not in your head," it said, giggling. "But using your head inside."
"You don't make any sense," Andy said. "If you need something from me, say so."
"I need nothing, now," it said. "I've been freed by your bumbling actions and can go about my business. Messes to clean up. Things to put in order."
"Freed from what?" Andy asked. "Were you locked up in the library?"
"Library?" It tilted its head and gave her a puzzled look. "A place with discrete containers of information? Is that what you mean?"
"Maybe?" Andy said. "We found it on this deserted planet in an old city. We've been trying to find something and thought information about it might be here. But there's just too much to look through."
"You have the control bracelet," the Guardian said. "That should be all you need."
"I don't know what it does," Andy said. "There weren't any instructions."
"Call me," it said. "I will provide assistance. Now go! Back to your nosy companions, before that Bright One gets violent and makes things even more of a mess!"
Things around Andy started to go gray, and faded away. Blinking, she found herself back in the hallway, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, with Miranda standing over her looking furious. "What's going on?" Andy said.
Miranda blinked and sat down, almost on top of her, and pulled her into a hug. "Don't do that again!" She whispered fiercely.
"Do what?" Andy said, confused.
"You were gone, somewhere I couldn't follow," Miranda said. "And now something is happening in this building."
"The Guardian said it had things to put in order," Andy muttered. "I guess it wasted no time."
"Guardian?" Miranda said.
"Remember the other day? When we had that encounter with those two beings?" Andy said. "It was sort of like that, except you weren't there."
"More playing with our heads," Miranda said, unhappily. "Whomever it is, they seem to think traipsing around in our heads is perfectly acceptable."
"I don't like it," Ixchel said, sitting down next to them. "Too long have I had an unwelcome entity in my head. I don't enjoy the idea of a return visit."
"I don't think they are like that," Andy said, yawning. "Sorry, whatever that was has worn me out."
"This Guardian," Miranda said. "What did it say?"
"That we'd freed it," Andy said. "I think it was the presence you were feeling. It called this all the 'Heart of the People' and it is its guardian. No, it didn't say who the People are."
"That is a common name," Miranda said. "A civilization that considers itself the only 'people' until it encounters others, their name for themselves is often The People."
"Seems a bit pretentious but not surprising," Andy said, nodding. "How long was I out of it?"
"Ten minutes," Miranda said.
"Didn't feel that long," Andy said, rubbing her head. "So, this Guardian is around here somewhere. Hopefully they won't kick us out when they remember we're here."
"We have no way to contact them, unless you plan to spend your time unconscious," Miranda said. "Which I do not approve of."
"The Guardian did say, after claiming I was one of these People, even with the odd shaped ears, that all I had to do was call them. Something about the bracelet," Andy said.
"I believe a meal is in order first before any further experiments," Miranda said. "Memo and Romana are down in the lobby setting up lunch."
"Okay," Andy said, using Miranda's help to stand. "Not sure I'm really that hungry."
"You will eat," Miranda said.
"I can try," Andy said, stumbling as Miranda and Ixchel guided her towards the stairs. "Haven't felt like this in years. It's like spending a week in the training pods."
"If what you describe is correct, it was something similar," Miranda said. "But requires more energy."
"So, there is a spirit of some sort guarding this building?" Ixchel said. "That could be a good thing if they are helpful."
"It didn't seem angry or antagonistic," Andy said. "Just annoyed at having to clean up someone's mess."
"If it's been locked away since the original residents left, it is very messy," Miranda said. "Time tends to lead to chaos."
"But maybe it can help us find what we want?" Ixchel said. "What is its purpose? To just guard? Or is it the catalog you are looking for?"
"That seems too simple," Andy said. "Just say "Guardian, where is the data crystal I want!' ?"
"That is very vague," a squeaky voice said, startling them. "You will need to be more specific." There was a faint hum and it was gone.
"That just happened, didn't it," Andy said, sighing. "I guess I'll have to be careful what I say now."
"And we will have to be more explicit about what we need from it," Miranda said.
They finally made it down into the lobby, to find a number of changes.
"Was it this clean this morning?" Andy said, looking around. "And neat?"
"No, it was not," Miranda said.
"And there wasn't a table," Ixchel said, pointing to an alcove where Memo and Romana were standing near a table.
"I hope we still have our food," Andy muttered. "I don't want to know what very old food tastes like."
They reached the alcove, to find that the food they'd brought with them that morning was laid out on the table, like a picnic.
"Did we bring any juice? Or just water?" Andy asked, grabbing a chair and flopping down.
"You insisted on juice, if you may remember," Miranda said, sitting next to her.
"Can't say that I do, but I'm glad I remembered," Andy said. "So, how is everyone doing? This looks cozy." She patted the table.
"It just appeared," Romana said. "And something has been cleaning in here."
"That would be the building Guardian," Andy said. "Apparently it was not happy with the housekeeping in its absence."
"Guardian?" Memo said. "A spirit?"
"Possibly," Miranda said. "An entity that believes itself responsible for this building. It seems to have introduced itself to Andrea."
"Wasn't much of an introduction," Andy said, "but there is hope of getting better acquainted with it."
"Has it indicated that it can help us find what we are looking for?" Memo said. "Give us an index or catalog?"
"Not in so many words," Andy said. "And right now it seems busy cleaning things up after thousands of cycles of inactivity."
"If it can organize the data crystals, and tell us how they are organized, even that would be an improvement," Memo said, cautiously picking up a sandwich.
"Let's eat first," Andy said. "I find myself hungrier than normal."
"What did you find out in the city today?" Miranda asked them.
"This is the best preserved building," Ixchel said. "It looks as if part of the city was left hurriedly, but other parts are empty like they were abandoned many cycles before the mass exodus."
"But there is no sign of conflict," Romana said. "If they were chased away from here, they were not under attack at the time."
"We do have that rather large radiation field," Andy said. "Maybe they used that to slow down their enemies first?"
"We don't know enough about what happened out there," Romana said. "The Kraal ship graveyard might be unrelated."
"I suspect the Kraal came here to do their usual plundering and ran into that existing radiation field," Ixchel said. "I have seen something of that type before used by a race other than the Kraal."
"You don't think the Kraal caused the evacuation?" Miranda said, leaning forward.
"The timelines don't really fit," Ixchel. "This city has been abandoned for a very long time. I suspect long before the Kraal were seen in this area."
"Are we sure about that?" Andy said. "The Confederation history does have a few hole in it."
"Yes," Ixchel said. "Whatever happened here was before the Confederation existed. It is less than ten thousand cycles old. This was at least one hundred thousand cycles ago, if not longer."
"We never did learn how old the Ring network is," Andy said. "Other than very old, the Confederation doesn't know how old it is, or even who built it."
"Based on what I've seen and heard, I would suspect the Furlings had some influence on the builders of Rings out there and the one in this building," Miranda said. "But when we start talking of time periods of that magnitude it becomes hard to distinguish fact from legend."
"Which makes this library invaluable," Memo said. "If we can take this knowledge back with us, think of the things it will reveal."
"We'd have to get a bigger ship, with a lot of storage," Andy said. "And the Guardian would probably object and who knows what defenses it has."
"So, if you want to access the library you will have to come here," Memo said, nodding. "It's an amazing find."
"You just want to be the head librarian," Andy said, smirking. "You'd have to get along with the Guardian."
"I have not met it yet, but yes," Memo said. "It would be an honor to be tasked with the responsibility for this library."
"I can see there being a huge fight over it," Andy said. "What territory are we in again?"
"It's a dead zone, between several Clan territories," Ixchel said. "Including ours."
"I think we can claim it, and put Memo in charge?" Andy said. "We're the ones in possession."
"Unlikely," Miranda said. "We don't have the clout yet to do that. As soon as we left there's be a flood of other Clans and pirates looking to steal it."
"Well, we can't have that," Andy said. "What can we do?"
"Keep it a secret until we do have the ability to protect it," Miranda said. "But we all must agree to that."
"I am willing to swear a Clan oath," Memo said, "for the Wind Clan."
"And I would swear one also," Ixchel said. Romana nodded in agreement.
"We may have to get Lady Shadow involve before we make too many plans," Andy said. "She'll know how we can protect this from being pillaged."
"You don't think I can protect my own Heart?" A squeaky voice said. The Guardian appeared, hovering over the middle of the table.
"Now who's being nosy?" Andy said, raising an eyebrow.
"You are discussing the future of something that is mine," it said. "A future you have no authority to discuss unless the People agree that you do."
"How can we ask your people," Andy said. "We don't even know who they are or where to find them."
"Most of them have gone ahead," the Guardian said, grimacing. "And the few remaining seem to have changed." It looked pointedly at Andy's ears.
"Who are the People, Guardian of this Heart?" Miranda asked, her voice ringing with authority.
"The People are the People," it said, shrugging. "What other name would they have?"
"What did others call them?" Miranda asked.
"I will need to consult the others," it said. "I am not familiar with any other name for the People."
"Others?" Andy said.
"The other Guardians," it said. "I shall return." There was a faint sound of bells as it disappeared from their view.
"Was that progress?" Andy said.
"We now know it isn't the only one of its kind," Miranda said.
"There must be other libraries," Memo said excitedly, before take a large bite out of her sandwich. "Representing them to the Confederation would be an exciting task."
"Don't get too far ahead of yourself," Andy said. "It's possible these other guardians won't agree. If they even exist."
"They must be guardians of other hidden libraries," Romana said. "If we could search those also, we may find what we are looking for, to defeat the Kraal."
"I think finding those Prophets would be a good first step. The Furlings must have taken them somewhere," Andy said. "Maybe they passed through one of these libraries? Though that would be a little too convenient."
"Only if they left traces of their passage," Ixchel said.
"There is that," Andy said. "The Furling haven't been seen in this sector in thousands of cycles. There may not be someone who remembers the Prophets. Or they just took the Prophets with them on a whim and dropped them off at some unknown system."
"That would be a small issue," Miranda said, "but is pure speculation. It is more likely that the Furlings are somehow related to the builders of this city."
"Unfortunately, there is no one to ask," Memo said. "The Prophets disappeared hundreds of cycles ago."
"We do have that prophecy that says we will find them," Andy said, trying to insert a ray of hope into the discussion.
"Prophecies are fickle things," Miranda said. "Glimpsing the future is fraught with problems."
"We should finish up," Andy said, picking up her garbage and eating utensils. "We may need to move fast if the Guardian comes back.
Romana and Ixchel had gone back to exploring the city while the others returned to the lower levels, hoping to make some sense of what was there.
"If one level is business and government records, they must have been here for a long time," Andy said. "Not very exciting reading." She pulled a data crystal, detailing the economy of the city over several long periods, out of her viewer.
"The people settled this land in the Year of Zoan," the Guardian said, grabbing the crystal and carrying it across the room. It returned and hovered in front of them. "They stayed until there was need to return." It disappeared with a pop.
"Return where?" Andy asked the empty air. "I hate when it does that," she said. "A document on how these People designated time would be helpful, Guardian," she said.
A data crystal appeared in the air in front of her. Andy grabbed it out of the air before it could hit the ground. Shaking her head, she inserted it into her viewer. "Thank you!" She said.
"A book on time?" Memo said. Andy nodded.
"Unfortunately, this is another chicken and egg situation," Andy said, sighing. "You have to understand their science before this probably makes sense."
"Maybe you asked the wrong question," Miranda said. "It seems clear that this city was abandoned years before the Prophets disappeared. What we need to know is where the Furlings went and when they would have met the Prophets."
"I do not recall any such beings as Prophets," the squeaky voice said. "The people had many cities and traveled far and wide. I will enquire of the other Guardians when they were last seen."
"Thank you, Guardian," Andy said. "It's like dealing with one of the AI's," she said in a low voice. "Never really gone. Always listening."
"As long as they are willing to provide needed information," Memo said, "I will not object."
"Guardian?" Andy said. "Is there a history of the people, as far as you know it?"
"Of course," it said, again appearing in front of them. "The people consider their history important. But we will have to travel to another Heart to learn the latest. The synchronization between this Heart and the others appears to be deficient and will not be fixed at this time."
"So, the Hearts share information?" Andy said. "Everything?"
"The city records stay here, of course," it said. "Just a summary of that information is shared. But all important information the belongs to the entire People is normally shared. But it is possible the events you are interested in is only stored at one Heart."
"How do we get there?" Andy said. "And what about our ship?"
"The Ring Gate, of course," it said. "This ship you speak of? The local Ring Gate for large conveyances was destroyed to prevent the Virii from following the People when they left. If you wish it to follow it must travel though linear space."
"We'll have to discuss this with our crew," Andy said. "So, just to be clear, we would travel through the Heart's Rings until we reach the one with the most relevant information? Is it possible to go directly to that one?"
"There are several shorter paths," it said, "but only from a master Ring Gate, and the one here is no longer a master. That purpose was superseded when the city was abandoned."
"Is there a time limit on this travel?" Miranda said. "Or only certain days that can be traveled?"
"Why would that matter?" It said. "What purpose would that serve?"
"Apologies," Miranda said. "We are unfamiliar with the People's culture."
"That can be corrected," it said. "This contains the basic information." It dropped another data crystal into the air, that Andy quickly grabbed, handing it to Miranda.
"We'll return tomorrow," Andy said, "with answers for you."
After collecting Ixchel and Romana, they headed back to the Lucia.
"So, do you think it is wise to jump into one of these Ring gates with this Guardian?" Ixchel said.
"We've used the Rings before," Andy said. "But this time we'll have a guide so it should be safer."
"Or at least not immediately fatal?" Miranda said. "You have a lot of faith in this Guardian."
"It just feels right," Andy said. "Though we will need to plan this carefully. There are a number of questions to answer before doing it. Not the least of which is what to do about the Lucia."
"If we can know where the Rings are, we can send it ahead," Ixchel said. "Though I suspect Garnes and Dart will not be happy with us."
"What won't we be happy with?" Garnes said, appearing out of thin air, wearing her pilot's Hard Suit.
"We were offered an alternate way to travel," Andy said.
"Start at the beginning," Garnes said. "Offered by who and from where to where?"
"It appears that the library has an AI Guardian," Ixchel said. "And it has offered to take us to other similar libraries."
"And how will you travel? Does this Guardian have its own ship?" Garnes said.
"No," Andy said. "Apparently there's a Ring System that connects them. We would have to go through that."
"I see. Are you prepared to do it? If I remember your account of your last trip through a Ring system it wasn't a simple thing and took a long time." Garnes said.
"There is the potential that there are ship sized Ring Gates available," Andy said.
"In this system?" Garnes said.
"The one here apparently was destroyed," Andy said. "But if we can find the next one, we could go there and you could join us."
"Seems to be a lot of uncertainty involved," Garnes said. "How do we find this Ring?"
"I don't know yet," Andy said.
"We'll need to know more then," Garnes said. "You are all our responsibility. Lady Shadow and Lady Air would not be happy with us if we let you travel on your own."
"We'll figure that out," Andy said. "But do we have the equipment that would allow us to safely travel?"
"Give me time to review this idea," Garnes said. "Assuming Dart and I even agree to this harebrained idea."
"That's fair," Andy said. "We can still learn plenty from this library."
"You haven't said much about this idea," Andy said later to Miranda, after they'd gone to bed.
"It's clear that you want to do this," Miranda said. "I will not stop you. But you must be certain that this is how you want to proceed, and that you really want to bring along the others. This Ring system is very old. Possibly not as old as the one we traveled through last year but still old enough that it may be dangerous."
"I think we can do this safely," Andy said. "It links together a bunch of libraries. How dangerous could that be?"
"If they are in hostile territory? Very," Miranda said.
"But we'll have the Lucia to back us up," Andy said.
"Not on this first jump. We'll have to go through the Ring, get our bearings and come back and tell Garnes where it is so she can take the Lucia there to meet us. Unless it is just one or two systems over, it may take days for them to get to us."
"Okay, so there might be drawbacks to doing it like that, leap frogging from one to the next," Andy said. "But think of the knowledge we will get from it."
"And the cost if something happens to one of us? Will it have been worth it?" Miranda said.
"No," Andy said, frowning. "Likely not. But I still think it would be important to go to these other libraries."
"There are six of them," Miranda said. "This may take a while."
"Six?" Andy said. "The Guardian didn't say."
"It is mentioned in the data crystal they gave us. Six centers of knowledge," Miranda said.
"So, the Hearts of the People. I think we can handle that," Andy said. "As long as they aren't buried under tons of snow or ice or mud."
"If they are in Clan territory, we will likely have to negotiate for access," Miranda said.
"Or sneak in and out, if they don't know these libraries exist," Andy said.
"Whatever is best for that specific location," Miranda said.